Ultimate Blaze: Heroes Unlimited
by Shade Penn
Summary: Joey Wheeler was absolutely sure of three things:he was a mutant,he liked it, and he was a hero. Sort of.Only he never knew though what being a hero would entitle;long nights, maniacs trying to kill him, the lies...knowing he was doing the right thing.
1. Prologue

A/N: This goes under Marvel despite the fact I'm making this a mix of the Ultimate Marvel verse and the mainstream comics. They'll be a number of different heroes appearing too, but the main focus is Joey.

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><p>Prologue<p>

When Joey Wheeler discovered he was a mutant, he had been younger than a teen; the age range that was theorized for when mutant powers surfaced. It had been after his parents divorced that things had begun to happen.

Like whenever he'd get angry the lights in school or at 'home' would flicker, or when he'd get frustrated and have trouble with his homework he would suddenly just _know_ the answers.

It had started out like that with little things happening, but as he got older, his powers started acting up more depending on his mood. Lights would dim if he was sad or upset, they would get glaringly bright if he was happy-which rarely happened-and when he had entered high school, he had gotten into a fight and had gotten so mad that he was being suspended for two weeks that he made the entire school's powers generators go out-effectively letting the rest of the school be let out early. Why couldn't he have just been given in-school detention instead?

Being suspended wouldn't have bothered him if he was in another place and time, he was sure he would've welcomed it, but not in _this_ time and place. He _liked_ school; he was actually _worth_ something here, or at least to the teachers, who would praise him on his work. He liked the praise, it felt nice to be acknowledged than be put down. It was sad for him to think that the person who acknowledged him the most was more of a father to him than his _own_ father.

And on a more selfish note, being at school was really the only place where he could get away with spending hours at and _away_ from his _father_.

It was also during his suspension that Joey discovered his most powerful ability yet.

And by his own account, his most terrifying.


	2. Vapor Trail

A/N: I make no profit from this nor do I own any of the characters.

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: Vapor Trail<strong>

The blond ducked into his room through the window. The tree was directly beside his window in the apartment complex he and his _father_ lived in. If he wanted to avoid his old man, then going in through the window was really the only option and avoiding using the front door at any cost was top priority.

He'd only go out of his room to get himself some food from the fridge, if there was any left, when he was sure his old man was passed out or too drunk to care. It was only when his old man was _sober_ that he really had to worry; since it was when he was sober that his old man remembered that he actually _had_ a son.

Very unfortunate for Joey indeed.

He couldn't tell his friends because honestly; who believe him? People tended to ignore things despite the evidence being right there in front of them. He tried to use his Know-It-All ability-as he called it-to try and figure out a solution that would _make_ people believe him, but he always had to stop short of any definitive solutions he could come up with before he got sick.

His powers were cool, but had their drawbacks. Whenever he tried to _know_ too much, he always get violently sick and throw up. So he had learned early on to keep himself from trying to know, well, _everything_. He didn't want to _die_ after all.

But this particularly smarty-smart ability told him that his _other_ power was tied directly to his emotions; hence why the lights would always act so bizarre-_he was controlling them_. Unknowingly of course, but _still_, it was so awesome!

Joey had been a rather precocious 13 year old when he had finally learned what he was. He had been testing out his Know-It-All power by asking himself if there was a term for people like him, people with powers that is, and the answer he got was the word 'mutant.'

He had heard the term thrown around in his classes; most of the stuff he bothered to listen to made him hate being human.

Joey had known that the Domino district of New York didn't get a lot of superhero action, but after learning he was a mutant, he had looked up anything he could on mutants via the Internet; he didn't want to stress his Know-It-All ability unless he absolutely had too. The information had been _fascinating_ to him though, and he absorbed it like a sponge.

Joey had suspected that a side effect of his Know-It-All power was being able to have better understanding of things than most people, hence why he saw all the articles with malicious undertones to be bigoted and slanderous. He had to calm himself down before when the computer screen he was at in the library began to waver and flicker. He had been getting angry at the time and didn't want anyone to see or question what he was doing.

Even now as Joey put his backpack down and sat down on the edge of his bed he still couldn't understand _why_ people hated mutants so much. Sure, he had read the Internet reports of rampant mutants, but did the actions of a few stereotype mutants as a whole? Then again, many countries he knew from his history class or social government class exhibited the same thing.

The actions of a few condemn the country as a whole.

Joey though supposed he _should_ know the 'why' to his earlier thesis. People fear what they don't understand. It was simple as that; and Joey hated it. Yes, he knew that concept had been ingrained into human beings since they could understand the world around them. His fingers twitched and he took out his notebook, and simply _wrote_.

* * *

><p>Joey took a sip from the class of soda as he observed his little 13 year old sister reading over his 'article.' They were both dressed in warmer wear because of the chilly November air and had met up in a diner near her house. Joey didn't mind the long walk, anything to get him out of the apartment; and really, his sister was the only person in his 'family' he'd be willing to walk a mile for.<p>

Figuratively, but literally too if need be.

"So?" he prompted when he saw her eyes widened behind her glasses. A stab of guilt shot through him. His sister's growing blindness was another he hadn't seen coming, but he beat back the guilt. It'd be hypocritical of him to start blaming himself for something like this after giving his father-figure a speech that what had happened to…_them_ hadn't been his fault. Joey's eyes darkened, but calmed himself before the lights could start flickering.

He was sure though if the opportunity to get revenge presented itself, he'd take it. And he was sure his father-figure would too.

"So?" Joey prompted again after taking another sip of his cola.

Serenity pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "This is good." She sounded awed. Joey felt mildly insulted…at least until she said her next words. "You're a very good writer. This article brings up some good points." Now she looked confused. "But why'd you want me to read it?"

"'Cause I want your school's newspaper editor to publish it. Me remaining anonymous of course." Joey replied casually.

"Don't you have a newspaper too though at your school, so why don't you give it to your editor?" Serenity questioned gently.

Joey didn't pause. "I can't. I got suspended for fightin' in school for sticking up for my friend."

"Why would they suspend you for sticking up for your friend?" Serenity asked confused.

Joey smiled coldly. "'Cause the principal wouldn't let me explain; and I learned a long time ago that people wouldn't believe the word of a punk." He said darkly.

Serenity frowned. "But you're not a punk, you're very smart; I've seen the report cards you show me." She replied. "Why would they think you're a punk?"

Joey took another sip of his cola before putting the glass down. "Ren, there's two things about human nature I'm sure of, one; people see what you want them to see. And two; they ignore things that they don't _want_ to see."

Joey knew his sister was also smart and he could practically see the cogs working in her head to figure out what he meant.

"So," Serenity started off slowly, "you _act_ like a punk for show, but you're not actually one?"

"And?" Joey added.

Serenity's brow furrowed up a little. "They can't accept it if you differentiate from what they expect of you."

Joey smiled again, this time it was warm; the kind of smile he reserved for his sister and…the kids he used to babysit. It faltered for a second, but wasn't noticeable. "You're right on the mark both times, Ren." He said sadly. "But I'm sure now you can see why I want you to give that to your editor." He paused before moving to stand. "Whatever reason you come up with will likely be right."

"If this gets published, do you want a copy?" Serenity questioned.

Joey gave it some thought. He hadn't written it to get attention (that was why he had asked his sister to say it was anonymous); he had written it to get some points across. And it was also the reason he hadn't tried to get it published in a 'real' newspaper. He knew it'd probably get crumpled up and tossed away, but if he could sway at least one person (Serenity didn't count unfortunately) to see how unfair people were to mutants, he'd be fine with it.

"No, I don't want an article." He finally answered as he paid their bill and walked his sister out of the diner.

Once they were away from any listening ears, Serenity asked, "Are you a mutant, Joey?"

Joey raised a brow in response. "If I say yes, will it change your opinion of me?"

Serenity shook her head. "No, I promise it won't. To me, you'll always be Joey."

Feeling better than he had in a while, Joey nodded. "Then I am."

* * *

><p>It was two days before Joey's article ended up being published in the middle school newspaper. Serenity felt proud of her brother, but she had to keep her answers neutral if anyone asked her on her own opinion of the article.<p>

She was fairly sure though that the reason all the newspapers had been 'sold out' was because everyone was reading that article or heard about it and needed for read it for themselves. She didn't blame them, her brother had made some very good points, and like he said; _people see what you want them to see._ She was curious though about what his power was. It had to be cool though, she'd be shocked though if his power wasn't.

Unbeknownst to her or her brother was the ripple effect that one particular article was going to have.


	3. Master Of Your Domain prt 1

A/N: I make no profit from this nor do I own any of the characters.

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><p><strong>Chapter 2: Master Of Your Domain prt 1<strong>

_Joey felt like throwing down the bow. Yes, _bow_. Not towel. His fingers ached and any shots he'd taken at the target board had all missed. Why had Clint talked him into this? His aim sucked!_

_While the 12 year old was no whiner, he couldn't keep in his complaints. "My fingers hurt, this bow is too heavy for me, and my aim sucks."_

_The older man stared at him with an unusually serious expression on his face. "I know, I know, and," he took one look at the target board and the arrows haphazardly strewn around it, "_I know._"_

_Joey stared up at him, looking scandalized. "Then why bother trying to teach me archery? I suck at it! I'm nothing but a worthless brat!"_

_Clint's face showed little reaction to Joey's statement aside from his features tightening. "Did your _father_ tell you that?" Joey nodded. "Well forget it! _He's_ the worthless one!"_

_Clint would have been lying if he said he hadn't felt like putting an arrow through the abusive drunk Joey was forced to live with. He'd nearly beaten the _man_ within an inch of his life though when he'd gotten a call from the hospital telling him that his son had been admitted. Had he not seen all three of his children run by at that moment, he was sure he would have had a heart attack. But he had seen them, and asked the nurse what the boy's name was. _

_Once the name 'Joey' had been said, he'd abruptly cut off the nurse and told her he'd be right there. _

_The second he'd seen Joey's bruised up face and the sling his arm was in, he didn't buy it for a second that he had fallen down the stairs when the younger blond had tried to sell him that story. After getting a doctor's reassurance that Joey would be okay, he went off to commit assault._

_For the most part, Clint had just seen red and barely remembered what he'd done, but the next thing he knew, he was being charged with assault and had a restraining order set against him from the bastard that said he couldn't go within a hundred feet of the _man.

_Luckily though, Joey hadn't been included in that agreement and the younger blond continued to come over to see him and his family._

_Though he swore; first legal chance he got, he was getting Joey out of that place he was forced to call a home._

"Wake up, brat!" A grating voice shouted, banging on the door to Joey's room.

Joey groaned as he got out of bed, his blond hair as unruly as ever. "Yeah, 'em up." His New York accent was thick with grogginess as he rubbed the sleep out of his amber eyes.

…Wait, _amber?_

Joey backtracked to look at the reflective surface of the lock on his door. The reflection wasn't good, but he definitely knew his eyes had never been _that_ color before.

Joey though, just chalked it up to one of his powers affecting his eye color and decided to wear the dark sunglasses he'd bought once to hide the black eyes his _father_ would give him from the kids at school and from both Clint and Laura.

Though only those two actually cared enough about to _ask_ why he was wearing them. And while he had always made something up on the fly, he had known neither of them had ever bought it.

Though he knew he didn't have school due to his suspension, his _father_ didn't know that since he'd usually let the answering machine get it and later on Joey had deleted the message from his school. He knew where he _was_ going to spend his two weeks. Not in this apartment, that's for sure.

Joey put on a clean shirt and jeans, while putting on his green jacket over the white shirt. He opened the door after unlocking it and peeked out into the hall. His hearing picked up the sound of running water and he knew his _father_ was in the bathroom.

"Goin' now!" he yelled before quickly shutting his door and locking it again. He made his way over to the window and carefully got onto the branch and climbed down the tree.

Once his feet hit the ground, he already had in mind where he was going. Sure, it may take him almost forty minutes to walk there, and it usually left his hands aching even when he _did_ wear the specialized gloves, but he liked archery.

Which was a real improvement from when he first began to learn it.

* * *

><p>Joey preened somewhat as another arrow hit the target board. When he first tried his hand at archery, he had<em> sucked<em> at it. His arrows either landed short of the board or missed all together. Though instead of giving up on him, Clint had taken him to a man he'd introduced as 'Buck,' and asked him to teach him how to shoot.

Joey had noted at the time that Buck hadn't looked too thrilled with the idea, but very reluctantly agreed. Too be honest though, _Joey_ hadn't felt too thrilled with the idea when the guy kept on criticizing his stances until he got it right; and the worst came when his aim was mentioned.

Particularly when Buck said he couldn't hit the side of a barn door; and he had been _right_. _That_ had been a rather embarrassing moment for Joey.

The 12 year old had persevered through it though, as his training in the long run left him with eerily accurate aim. While Buck though had pretty much been the trainer from hell to him, Joey had eventually found the man to be bearable, and it _did_ help that Clint was there supervising; which in turn had made Joey work harder to impress his honorary dad.

Although, even in the present time Joey still wasn't immune to criticism.

"You're slouching, kid! Stand up straight!"

Joey's back automatically straightened and his grip on his bow and notched arrow tightened before firing and the arrow hit the board dead-on. He then turned to look at the older man in annoyance. "Aren't I good enough yet that you don't have to keep harping on me?" he questioned.

Buck stared at him like he was idiot. "If I don't, how are you gonna get any better?"

Joey frowned. "I bet Clint never got talked to like this." He grumbled.

"Oh really?" Buck looked rather amused. "And who do you think _trained_ him?"

Joey blinked; then a look of dawning realization crossed his face. "You trained him? Seriously?"

"Better believe it, kid." Buck replied proudly. "I taught him everything he knows about archery, just like with you."

Joey grinned when he realized what this meant. It was just one more thing he had in common with his father-figure; only this time it was probably the only _good_ thing they had in common.


	4. Master Of Your Domain prt 2

A/N: I make no profit from this nor do I own any of the characters.

_Flasback_

_'Thoughts'_

_"Speaking over the phone"_

"Speaking"

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><p><strong>Chapter 3: Master Of Your Domain prt 2<strong>

Joey was just putting the bow and arrows he'd been using back into their place in the shed; wincing from the cut he had accidently given himself from holding the string too tightly. He looked down at the cut. It was a long sliver down his palm. He conceded at that time to _never_ go without wearing the gloves simply because they were 'difficult to get off.'

Joey was surprised that the cut wasn't bleeding out, despite the fact he'd been using _both_ his hands to put the equipment away. He still needed to clean it and bandage it though. Joey knew that Buck kept some of the basic supplies for cuts and bandages because of the blonde's past incidents with getting cut on either the bow string or the arrows.

He left the shed and when he walked up to the house, Joey saw a black van in the driveway. He frowned; if Buck had been expecting someone he would've told Joey to beat it once the teen had shown up. Joey cautiously opened the door and walked in, he took a look around the entrance before making his way to the bathroom; that's usually where the supplies were kept.

As soon as he opened the cabinet, he took of his sunglasses and started cleaning up his cut. The peroxide stung like hell, but it had to get cleaned. He the wrapped a long strip of the white bandage around his palm and sealed it up with medical tape.

Joey couldn't explain it though, but the hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end, and once he closed the cabinet mirror; he froze. Beyond his reflection was the look into the living room; and on the floor behind the couch in the mirror was a crumpled form on the floor.

Joey turned back in alarm and he sprinted over to the fallen form. While he tried to wake Buck up, his mind was screaming at him that if there was still a van out in the driveway that whoever did this was _still in the house_.

Joey seemed to acknowledge this too little too late as his head snapped up; only to get punched in the jaw and he saw a flash of blond hair before he hit the floor. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was Buck being dragged out of sight by a blond man.

* * *

><p>Joey awoke later on with a painfully stinging jaw. He staggered to his feet and searched for the phone. Why had someone kidnapped Buck though? That question was replied too with too many variables that Joey's Know-It-All ability came up with and he had to take a steadying breath to stop himself from throwing up.<p>

Whether he was here or not, Joey knew Buck wouldn't have appreciated having a sick teenager in his house.

Once Joey reached the phone, he paused. He knew he should call the cops, but there was something stopping him from doing it. If it had been any other situation, calling the cops would have been priority number one, but at this moment…

Making up his mind, Joey dialed a number and waited for the other person to pick up.

_"Hello?"_

"Clint, I didn't know what else to do, I didn't know if I should've called the cops first or-"

_"Why would you have needed to call the cops?"_ Clint asked sharply from the other line. "_What happened and where are you?"_

"I'm at Buck's. I was putting away the arrows and bow I was using, but I cut my palm on the string, so I had to come inside to use the medical supplies." Joey relayed. "That's when I saw the black van in the driveway and went in thinking that someone had just come over, but after I finished cleaning my cut, I saw Buck lying on the floor in the mirror. I went to wake him up, but then someone punched me in the jaw pretty hard and I blacked out. When I woke up, Buck was gone."

There was a pause on other line. _"The van, did you get enough of a look at it to know the make?"_

"It was a black Chevy van I think. I was just coming into the house so I didn't see the license plate." Joey said.

_"What about the person? Did you get a look at 'em before they knock you out?"_

Joey grimaced as he rubbed his jaw. "Yeah, sorta. The guy had blond hair, but other than that I didn't get a good look at him." He replied. "So what should I do? Call the cops then?"

There was a pause. _"Yes, do that, but_," Clint added in a rather sharp tone,_ "I want you to do it anonymously. I don't want you anywhere near there when the cops show up, so you better be long gone. And don't leave any trace that you were there to begin with, got it?"_

Joey was actually rather shocked to be hearing this. "What, _why?_"

"_It's just something I don't want you to get involved in, _please_, just…stay out of it?"_

If possible, _this_ was even more shocking. Joey knew that his honorary father _never_ begged, so he knew the severity of what he was asking. He swallowed audibly before he answered. "Sure, okay." There was a brief goodbye on both parties before Joey called the police tip hotline.

* * *

><p>Joey felt confused. Confused and guilty. If he had been quicker on the dodge, he <em>might<em> have been able hold the blond guy off, but Joey was under no illusion that he could've done more than just give the guy a reason to kill him other than being an annoyance.

Joey was all too aware that the guy could've just killed him instead of knocking him out.

Then there was the confusion. Why had Clint told him how to evade the police? And more importantly, why did he want him to stay out of it? Then of course there was the obvious question of why someone would want Buck; as far as Joey knew, the guy was just a grouchy old man who had taught him and Clint to shoot.

The next day, most of his questions were answered when he peeked through his bed room door at the T.V and heard the news reporter giving report of yesterday; and what he heard made his eyes widen.

"_...there is no clue as of yet to who might have kidnapped Buck Chisholm, the former mercenary and supervillain known as Trick Shot. The only detail police are confirming is the pair of sunglasses left in the bathroom belonging to an unknown male…"_

_'Oh. Shit_.' Joey thought. _'Clint's gonna kill me he said not too-wait, Buck was a supervillain?'_

This had to be the most surprisingly thing he's ever found out. Aside from him learning he was a mutant, but did this mean that _Clint_ knew Buck had been a supervillain? Joey quietly closed the door and relocked the door.

No wonder Clint had told him to stay out of it.

But unbeknownst to Joey, at that exact moment, the national fingerprint database had come up with the name 'Joey Wheeler' from the fingerprints on the sunglasses.


	5. Pyromania

A/N: I make no profit from this nor do I own any of the characters.

_Flasback_

_'Thoughts'_

_"Speaking over the phone"_

"Speaking"

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><p><strong>Chapter 4: Pyromania<strong>

After hearing the news on Buck from the T.V, Joey had left the house through his window. He really couldn't believe that grumpy old man Buck had actually been a super villain once. What was next, Clint was really a superhero? The day that was true _Joey_ would be a hero. That statement was so ironic though it probably would never happen.

Joey had used his ability for a brief moment to _know_ that it was 3 now. The Know-It-All ability was useful for knowing what time it was if he didn't he have a clock handy and it was one of the few things he could know without there being any repercussions.

Joey walked toward his school to see his friends and attain his schoolwork. Hey, while he wasn`t allowed to be at school _during_ the day, no one said anything about after school or getting any work he missed. Usually if he missed days he could always count on his Science teacher to attain the schoolwork he needed to finish.

Good thing most of the teachers he had were so flabbergasted by the fact that a student actually _wanted_ the work they missed it was never questioned why his Science teacher collected the work in the first place.

Joey saw his friends walking out of the school and walked up to them. "Hey guys."

Téa looked at Joey with some surprise. "What are you doing here; aren't you supposed to be suspended?"

Joey looked back coolly, and had to force down the urge to snort every time he saw the ridiculous girl's uniform the school had. A giant bow and pink blouse? Seriously? Domino high could have at least upgraded into the 21st century and let the students dress the way _they_ wanted. Or at least within a reasonable dress code.

"I am suspended." Joey replied indifferently. "There's nothing against the rules in being suspended that I can't come here _after_ school."

Tristan snorted. "You _want_ to come to school? What are you, a nerd?" he scoffed. "And what's up with your eyes, anyway?"

Joey had briefly forgotten about the fact his eyes were now a different color, though he now knew he didn't need sunglasses to hide them. "I decided to wear colored contacts. Don't my new eyes look _cool_ though?" he added with an arrogant tone and a boisterous grin.

It was all for show, but he honestly couldn't put that much effort into the act knowing his grumpy old mentor was missing.

"There certainly…interesting." Yugi said uncertainly. "And it's great that you still want to get good grades."

Joey's smile became just a bit more real. While he was painfully aware he was taller than his friends, he was also aware that he was _younger_ than them too, including Yugi. They were all 16 and he was 15; the fact he had skipped a grade kept carefully hidden from them.

Joey's attention turned to the paper in Téa's hands. His smile faltered as he saw that it was from the Midtown Middle School. "What is that?" he asked, though he very much knew what the answer was.

"Oh, this?" Tea held up the paper for emphasis. "It's the Midtown middle school newspaper. One of the girls in my other classes let me have it. She said she got it from her brother who's from the middle school where the papers from." She explained. "Wanna see?"

Joey curiously nodded as he looked at the page she was at and was shocked to see that it was _his_ article she was reading.

_Fear And Prejudice_

_By _

_Anonymous_

_I hear every day in my classes that mutants are destroying places, but never about any mutants who do any good. The answer I have concluded is quite sickening: People believe what they want to believe, and no matter how hard you may try, it's just never enough for them._

_What is the difference between a mutant and a human, really? A quirk of evolution that gives you powers, that's all. Yet people are so insistent that mutants are sub-human or freaks, but that's really just a mask for what they really feel. _

_Fear._

_Humans fear what they do not understand. That is a concept that has been ingrained into humanity since the days of cavemen. They hide their fear behind hatred and slander because they fear the powers these unique humans have. They feel prone to lash out in anger and hate, or for those who wish_ _they had these incredible gifts: jealously. _

_For any of you reading this and scoffs at the idea of being a mutant; let me ask you this: Was there ever a time when you wished you could fly like Superman or Wonder Woman? Or have the power to lift buses or cars without any effort? Or have the power of your favorite comic book superhero? _

_Then one day, you hear about a mutant who could lift 10 times their weight or fly, and you think: I wish I could do that. What can't I have that power? It's not fair. And you begin to lash out at the mutant population simply because they can do things you will never be able too. _

_As I've said, I hear in my classes talking about the bad things mutants can and have done, but where's the good? What everyone seems to forget or ignore is that mutants are just regular people like you. _

_I've drawn parallels to this article by other events in history where people thought it was a good idea to class a bunch of people together and try to get rid of them or reject them because they were 'different.' I've heard the phrase: If you treat something like a monster, then that's exactly what you'll get. _

_As I end this note: If you were a mutant, would you tell people? _

_With all the prejudice around, I know I certainly wouldn't feel safe telling someone that I knew wouldn't accept me for just being me._

"Wow." Joey muttered, more so out of the fact his article had made its way into a high school than any actual surprise.

Téa though misinterpreted his mutter though for surprise. "I know, that's what I said when I first read it. It certainly is fascinating."

"It really is." Joey agreed half-heartedly before he excused himself. He shook his head as he headed down the hall to the science class for his year. It was strange to think that he really _had_ written that article, but he was also glad he had written it anonymously. He opened the door and spotted the teachers long black hair pulled back in an elegant bun. "Hello Miss Drew." He chimed, causing her to look up.

Jessica smiled at him. "Hello, Joey. You here for your work?" she asked, her speech peppered with her English accent.

Joey nodded as he walked over to the desk while Jessica got the small pile out of her briefcase. While he was well aware that Miss Drew was a very attractive woman, he thought of her more like a cool big sis and actually paid attention in her class instead of just stared at her. That after all was the reason she said he was her favorite student.

Jessica handed him the pile and gave him a cordial smile, one that Joey returned. "Be sure to hand it back to the receptionist in the main office once you get done your suspension." She reminded him needlessly.

He still appreciated the gesture though; like with Clint it showed him that not all adults were totally worthless to him. Old people though he was fine with.

"Thanks." He said before departing.

A

Once he got back to the apartment complex, he knew that going in through the window probably wouldn't be a good idea because of the cop car in front of the complex. He looked at it like it was an ominous omen before taking the elevator in the building up to his old man's place. He fumbled with his key in his back pocket before unlocking the door and opening it slowly, hoping that he wouldn't see any cops in the apartment.

His hope was brutally crushed when he saw two cops in room and he saw his old man sitting on a chair. One of the cops was a woman and the other a man. "Hello; is there something wrong?" he asked cautiously.

"Son," Joey tried not to grimace as his old man called him that, "Officers Cater and DeWolfe have some questions they wanna ask you."

Taking this as an invitation, the woman asked, "When was the last time you saw Buck Chisholm?"

Joey bit his lip for a second before silently apologizing to Clint. "The day he went missing."

"And why were you there?" Officer Carter asked next.

"I go there to practice my archery." Joey answered. "He's been teaching me to shoot since I was 12." The officers exchanged a grim look as his old man sent him a glare. "Look, I didn't know that he _was_ a super villain."

"Didn't you ever ask?" Officer DeWolfe questioned suspiciously.

Joey shook his head. "I never asked and he never told me. Far as I was concerned he was just a grouchy old man."

"What about the blood in the bathroom trashcan?" Officer Carter questioned.

"That's mine." Joey said and saw them exchange another look. "I cut myself on a bow string, okay?" he snapped. "I had to go into the house to clean my cut and bandage up my hand," he held up his hand to show the bandage wrapped around his palm for emphasis, "anything else you wanna ask?" he asked annoyed.

The officers didn't have any more questions for him and Joey's old man led them out of the apartment. The moment the door closed, Joey swore the temperature dropped. He knew what was coming next; he didn't need his Know-It-All ability to tell him that.

"Joey…"

The blond looked up on reflex and the next second he was on the floor, the papers he had put on his lap scattered on the floor and his eye stung. He looked at his old man glaring down at him. "Get up brat." He growled.

Joey frowned as he did as he was told, only to get punched back down again. He knew if he tried to fight back it would only be worse, but he also knew this would _be_ worse. "Look, like I said; I didn't _know_ that Buck was a sup-"

A kick in the stomach interrupted him and Joey curled up, his hands wrapping around his torso. "I don't give a shit who you hang around with, but you brought the _cops_ here, you worthless brat!"

Joey, who had his eyes closed from the pain, glared at the man, hatred starting to surface on his face. "I'm not the worthless one, you are! You alcoholic gambling bastard!" he snarled.

The older man stomped down on Joey's ankle this time, eliciting a yell from the blond. "That'll teach you to talk back to me!"

_'Teach?'_ Joey thought angrily as his amber eyes glowed behind his closed eyelids. _'This bastard never taught me _anything!' he felt his hate grow and a loud beeping sound suddenly started going off as the room began to get uncomfortably hot.

"What the hell!" The older man yelled. "Where'd this fire come from?"

_'Fire?'_ Joey thought opening his eyes to see the flames engulfing the walls and a good portion of the living room. _'How did this start?'_ he wondered and he saw his old man look around once before the older man ran out the door. Joey just stared at the door in disbelief; he was obviously wrong to think that his old man would give a damn about him, and this just drove it home. _'I really shouldn't be all that surprised._' He thought before seeing his homework go up in flames.

_'Homework can be replaced, I can't be though._' Joey thought as he tried to get to his feet, but once he got on his ankle, he let out a scream and dropped back to the floor. He noticed too late that the flames had gotten too close to his jacket sleeve and when he looked down; he saw that the cuff was burning.

_'Damn it!_' he thought panicking as he tried to put it out by blowing on it, but the flames burned up the cuff and he was very surprised to find that once the flame hit his skin, he couldn't feel it! He stared at the flame engulfing his hand and was morbidly fascinated to find that it wasn't a prolonged reaction; he really couldn't feel the fire!

A more horrifying thought came to him. _'I…I caused this, didn't I?'_ his answer from his smarty-smart power was a yes.

Though Joey was immune to the fire, he certainly wasn't immune to the smoke and began coughing as he inhaled some, effectively snapping him back to the reality that he was inside a burning room. He finally managed to put out the fire that was on his hand once look at the melted telephone told him that he couldn't call for the fire department, but he was sure that someone else in the apartment complex had called-

Joey started to choke up in a way that had nothing to do with the smoke. Oh no, since he had caused this fire, what were the chances it had quickly spread? What if people hadn't been able to get out? He immediately stopped trying to save himself. If people died because of this, then he was a murderer and deserved to die too.

Joey made no other effort to get up again or try to stop from inhaling the smoke. He was sure he'd die either way if he just held his breath. Ashe started choking on the smoke, his last thought before passing out was, _'I'm sorry.'_


	6. In The Blood

A/N: I make no profit from this nor do I own any of the characters.

_Flasback_

_'Thoughts'_

_"Speaking over the phone"_

"Speaking"

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5: In The Blood<strong>

His body ached, mostly his ribs though. Joey struggled to remember what had happened before there was a flash of fire and smoke in his mind and he remembered laying down in the burning apartment room waiting for the smoke to kill him since the flames couldn't burn his skin for some reason.

If the horrifying realization didn't come to him a moment later about _why_ he had been so willing to give up and die came to him, he would have thought that being able to create fires would be cool.

…but knowing that people in the other apartments in the building might have died because of him, made him suddenly hate himself. Hate that he couldn't really control his emotions that were pretty much the catalyst for his powers. He could do these incredible things, but all he had to do to keep them under control was never feel anything ever again.

That made him see just how steep the price of having emotion-based powers was. Either he had to control his emotions, or just never feel again.

Tough call, but since his suicide attempt had failed he supposed that Option 1 was better than Option 2.

Joey opened his eyes and he stared up at the white ceiling, blinking several times and looked down at his right hand upon feeling the pressure of the I.V in his hand and his attention snapped to the door when it opened and a familiar auburn-haired girl came in, her face lighting up when she saw him awake.

Serenity rushed over to his side and was about to hug him when she thought better of it and instead just gave him a watery smile. "Big brother, you're finally awake!"

"Finally?" Joey echoed. "How long was I out for? The last thing I remember is passing out."

"You've been unconscious for almost two days!" Serenity's eyes blurred behind her glasses. "When I heard that you're apartment burned down, I made mom bring me here. I had to make sure you were alright."

Joey chuckled dryly; though it hurt to do anything other than just breath at the moment. "Bet she appreciated that." he muttered darkly. If it wasn't for his sister and Jessica, or Laura when she had been alive, then Joey would have bet his overall opinion of women wouldn't be very good with the fact his own mother had abandoned him when she took Serenity in the divorce and left him with the abusive drunk he had to live with.

Speaking of which…

"The fire; you know if the dead beat bit it?" he asked coldly, and for a malicious moment that echoed back to when he'd been put in the hospital for the first time and had heard from the police that Clint had nearly beaten his old man to death, he wished the answer was _yes_.

Serenity's expressing though turned dark. "No, he's still alive. Came here yesterday when mom dropped me off and wouldn't let me out of her sight while he was arguing with the doctors to take you off the machines because he didn't want to pay the bill when you got out of here." She explained. Joey scowled up at the ceiling." The doctors threatened to kick him out if he didn't leave quietly, the guy didn't even notice us as he left and I was allowed to see you, but I found someone else sitting by your bed. I think he said his name was," Serenity's eyes narrowed for a moment as she fought to think of the name, "Clint."

"Clint came to see me?" Joey asked surprised.

"Yeah, he told me that he knew you ever since you were 10, so I guess this was after mom and…him divorced that you met him." Serenity shrugged. "Did you tell him about, you know, how you're a…mutant?" her voice had dropped to a whisper as she looked around quickly.

Joey shook his head. "Nah, no reason for him to think I'm a freak."

"I don't think you're a freak."

Joey felt his insides freeze, a sharp contrast to the pain he felt, and Serenity jumped away, allowing Joey to see the older blond man standing in the doorway. "How much of that did you hear?" he asked nervously.

"Enough." Clint said shortly and looked at Serenity. "I'd like to talk to Joey alone, if you don't mind."

Serenity shrank in on herself as she nodded timidly and rushed out the door, closing it behind her.

Clint saw down on the chair beside Joey's bed and stared at the edge of the bed. "You could have died." He stated flatly.

Joey knew if it his ribs didn't hurt so much, he would have winced. "I…I wanted to die." Screw his pain, the sharp look Clint gave him made him wince. "It was my fault the fire started, I _made_ it start." He explained hastily. "I was just so mad that the dead beat began punching and kicking me. I didn't call the police and _tell_ them to come there, they just showed up."

"The police went to your apartment?" Clint asked, his eyes narrowing slightly. "You did what I asked you too, right?"

Joey bit his lip. "I…I forgot to take my sunglasses with me and…and…" he trailed off, feeling very flustered. "Why didn't you tell me though that Buck used to be a supervillain? I had to find that out from the news."

Now Clint avoided his gaze. "I didn't think it was necessary to tell you what he _used_ to be." He replied. "And I didn't want you involved because I didn't want you to get hurt. You said you only saw the kidnapper's blond hair before they knocked you out, but whoever took Buck might not _know_ that. And I assumed that if you told anyone else…"

"That I might be killed if I talked." Joey finished. "Is that what you thought when you came here? That the fire was an attempt on my life?"

"That's what I was thinking until I heard your sister call you a mutant." Clint replied. "I'm actually glad it was you that caused it rather than someone trying to kill you."

Joey stared at him, thinking he'd never heard the other man sound so callous about human life before. "But didn't people _die_ in the fire?" he had been under the impression that his screw up had killed people. Not to mention leaving any one still alive homeless.

"No, no one died." Clint replied and he saw Joey's face relax a little. "I heard the fire department got there in time to evacuate the people and rescue anyone who was still inside. Including you."

_'That's a relief_.' Joey thought, but another thought came to him. "Where am I gonna live? I know for a fact my 'mom' won't take me in, she only wanted Serenity; and…" Joey noticed the look on Clint's face. "What?"

"If you think I'm gonna let you go back to that drunk you've got another thing coming." He said irritably. "I read the report that aside from smoke inhalation, it was a beating that nearly killed you." The scowl that crossed his face made Joey realize he knew _exactly_ who had hurt him.

Then another realization came to him. "So, does this mean what I think it means?" he asked.

"That once you get out the hospital you're coming to live with me? Yes, yes it does." Clint replied nodding.

Joey grinned, knowing if it wouldn't hurt and he was a girl, he'd have hugged the man. "Thanks, but," his grin faded and a frown replaced it, "what about the legal stuff?"

"Leave that to me, but _fortunately_, if what you said is true, then your mother probably wouldn't put up much of a fight to keep you." Clint looked morose as his eyes glared at nothing.

Joey had on principle stopped caring about what his 'mother' thought a while back. "Nothing illegal, got it?" he asked only half-heartedly.

Clint smirked as him as he reached over and ruffled up Joey's hair. "Sure, I can do that. Get some sleep, kid." He advised before leaving the room.

Serenity came in a moment later and smiled at him. "I...I guess I'll see you later, huh?"

Joey smiled at her. "Yeah." Then his smile turned into a frown. "Serenity, what's today?"

"Thursday, why?" Serenity questioned.

"Because all my homework got burned up in the fire, so I was wondering if you could go to my school tomorrow and ask Miss Drew, my Science teacher, for copies." Joey explained.

Serenity stared at him with some incredulity before shaking her head slowly. "Only you would be worried about schoolwork just after waking up from being unconscious for two days." She said dryly. "But, I suppose I could get your homework tomorrow."

Joey's smile widened. "Thanks sis, you're the best."

Serenity smiled back at him. "I know."

* * *

><p>After school had ended the next day, Serenity arrived at the Domino District High School. It hadn't been much of a hassle to get here as she thought it would be, but she wasn't about to question it.<p>

Serenity walked into the school and was suddenly aware of one very important fact: she had no idea where Miss Drew's room was. _'Aw, man!_' she groaned internally.

The auburn-haired girl looked around for any students that could help her and found a friendly-faced older girl with brown hair and blue eyes talking to a boy with a pinhead hairstyle and a younger-looking boy with a crazy hairstyle. "Um, excuse me?" she called to the girl.

The girl turned to look at her as her two friends quieted down. "Yes?"

"Could you tell my where Miss Drew's room is? My brother Joey needs to have copies." Serenity had deliberately added her brother's name because she if they knew him.

For a second though, Serenity swore she saw a dull yellow glow around the brown-haired girl, but since neither of her two companions seemed to notice, Serenity decided that she must have been seeing things.

"Joey? Joey Wheeler's your brother?" The girl asked cautiously.

Serenity nodded. "Yes, he asked me to come and get the copies. Do you know Joey?"

"We're his friends." The girl answered. "Why didn't Joey come and get them himself instead of sending his sister-_that he didn't even tell us he had_." That last bit was aimed at her other two friends with annoyance.

Serenity felt herself get irritated, not at Joey, she knew her brother always did or didn't do things and always provided a reason why; but she found that this girl didn't know his brother at all. And this was what he had for friends? "My brother's in the hospital." She said a bit more harshly than necessary.

The boy with the zany hairstyle looked genuinely concerned as he faintly glowed white for a second; but again, Serenity didn't say anything on it. "Is he alright?"

"He's…alright." The 13 year old said warily. "If you're his friends, then I guess he wouldn't mind you visiting him. Now, where's Miss Drew's room?"

The young-looking boy looked embarrassed for a moment before pointing off down the hall. "Room 104, just take a right at the end of the hall."

Serenity nodded at him as she passed. "Thank you." She said sincerely.

Serenity decided that perhaps Joey had chosen his friends for a _specific_ reason. She could tell it was probably the zany-haired boy's compassion that made her brother hang around him, the other two she wasn't so sure of, but then again, her brother always _did_ like to analyze certain things. And she supposed friends fell into that category.

The 13 year old found the door as instructed and poked her head in. There was an attractive dark-haired woman putting papers into a briefcase and Serenity cleared her throat. "Excuse me, are you Miss Drew?"

The woman looked up. "Yes." She replied in an English accent. "And who might you be?"

"Serenity Wheeler." The teen replied walking into the room. "My brother Joey wanted me to come and see if you could give me copies of his homework." She continued and briefly debated not telling the teacher why Joey wanted them, but thought better of it. "He's in the hospital, and his apartment building got burned up."

Miss Drew looked shocked. "Is he alright?" she asked with concern as she glowed faintly white, the same as Joey's short friend.

"Yes, though he was more worried about not getting his homework done." Serenity explained.

Miss Drew's face softened. "I'll go get some copies, you wait here." She said before leaving the room.

Serenity sat down on one of the chairs in the front row and began contemplating why she seemed to be the only one able to see the glows around people. It had happened previously, but she had thought at the time it was just a trick of the light, but now that it had happened three times in a row, she wasn't so sure.

Was she a mutant like her brother? And if so, what kind of power let her see colors around people? It seemed random for the most part, since she was exerting no actual effort in seeing the colors. But that left another question, why had that girl's color been dull yellow while the boy's and Miss Drew's been white? Did it mean something?

Serenity didn't know much about mutants or their powers, not like her brother seemed to know; so after she had dropped Joey's work off with him and went home, she use her computer to look for the facts. If she had to guess, it probably would've been something Joey would have done when _he_ found out he was a mutant.

Serenity was only brought out of her thoughts 15 minutes later when Miss Drew came back into the room carrying a small pile of papers.

"Here you are, and tell Joey I hope he gets better soon." Miss Drew said handing Serenity the papers.

The teen nodded. "I will, and thank you, Miss Drew." She said before departing and catching a bus that stopped just a block from the hospital.

* * *

><p>Joey had woken up later on to the sound of knocking and saw a nurse poke her head in. "Yes?"<p>

"Sorry to disturb you, but there are some teenagers here to see you, they say they're your friends." The nurse said.

Joey waved his hand, ever since he'd been declared 'stable' after they'd taken the I.V out and now was just waiting for the damage to finish healing up before he could be released from the hospital. "Sure, let 'em in." he replied.

The nurse nodded and three familiar teenagers came in, each wearing varying expressions of relief and worry on their faces.

Yugi spoke up first. "Joey, are you really alright?"

Joey blinked at the 'really' part. "Yes, I'll be able to leave as soon as everything finishes healing up."

"Joey, why didn't you tell us you had a sister?" Tristan asked.

Joey growled. "You, stay away from my sister." He hissed. "Secondly, was I _supposed_ to tell you?" he asked annoyed.

"But friends don't keep secrets from each other." Téa said.

Joey resisted snorting at her naïveté. _'Course we do. We all have secrets._' He thought sardonically. Then, just to prove how futile telling the truth would be, he said what he's been trying to say for 5 years. "You wanna know _why_ I'm in the hospital? Yeah, so I got smoke inhalation, but what really almost killed me was that my old man beat me and left me in the burning apartment to die."

Joey watched their expressions and saw that none of them looked like they believed him. _'I knew it._'

"That's not funny Joey; blaming you father just isn't funny." Téa admonished sternly.

"Yeah man, are you sure you just didn't hit your head?" Tristan questioned.

Joey glared at them, the lights starting to flicker overhead. "No, I did not hit my head." He said coldly. They just didn't believe-

"What if Joey's telling the truth guys?" Yugi asked.

"Yugi, no father could ever do that to his kid." Téa rebuked.

Joey felt his lip curl in contempt. Téa just had no idea how the world really worked and it sickened him. "No, you're the one who's wrong. You just want to believe that everyone's good, but here's the truth: in some people, there's just no good in them."

The only girl in the room shook her head. "That can't be true, if you just give someone a chance…"

Joey remained unconvinced, and he had heard enough of this. "Leave."

They filed out just as Serenity made it into the room. "I got your homework, big brother." She said smiling, but it faltered when she saw his expression. "What's wrong?"

The lights stopped flickering over head as Joey let out a sigh. "Just Téa being naïve is all."

Serenity's brow furrowed in confusion. "One of you friends?" Joey nodded. "A girl?" Joey nodded again. "Oh, I met them at your school and I gotta ask, _why_ are you friends with her anyway?"

"'M not really, she's more Yugi's friend than mine." Joey explained.

"Oh, that explains it." Serenity said and handed Joey the papers and a pen. "Miss Drew was really helpful."

"That's why she's my favorite teacher." Joey said absently. "So, anything new with you?"

Serenity flinched, but decided that it was better to tell him _after_ she found out if she might be a mutant or not. "Not…really. I'm just gonna head home now." She said heading for the door.

"'Kay, see ya." Joey said offhandedly as he began to work on the first page of his homework.

Serenity looked back at him as she watched him work for a second and hoped she was a mutant, just so she could have something more familial in common with him.


	7. First Blood prt 1

A/N: I make no profit from this nor do I own any of the characters.

_Flasback_

_'Thoughts'_

_"Speaking over the phone"_

"Speaking"

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 6: First Blood prt 1<strong>

Joey filled out the last question and had to be please with himself that he'd managed to finish his homework in two days. His friends had visited some more, but since Clint practically spent all the times he wasn't out working-the one thing Joey had never been able to get the man to tell him was what his job was-he was sitting in Joey's room talking to him.

From what he had gathered, there was still no word on where Buck might be.

_That_ had depressed him, though Clint pointed out what Joey had already figured out, the man that took Buck could have easily just killed Joey to make sure there was no witness. However little of what Joey had actually seen of the man.

Just yesterday though, his friends had stopped by when Clint was still present, and he thought it could have gone better.

_They had come in just as Joey had finished telling Clint about his mutant abilities and his noticeable lack of control over them. _

_"Choosing between feeling and never feeling again is a bit of a no brainer." Clint had said lightly._

_Joey smiled ruefully. "That's what I thought too." He replied. "But where am I gonna learn to control them? No one knows where that mutant school is, and if they haven't learned about meh, then maybe I really _am _just a freak."_

_Clint had given a look, a look he gave Joey every time he bagged on himself. "You're not a freak. You're a kid. A kid with incredible powers and a killer aim." He added smiling._

_Joey grinned. "Can't argue with that." There was a knock at the door. "Come in."_

_The door opened and his friends piled in, all in normal clothes as it was the weekend. "Hey Joey…" Tristan trailed off as he spotted the blond man sitting by the younger blonde's bed. "Who's he?"_

_Joey looked briefly at Clint before he spoke with total conviction. "This is my dad."_

_Clint didn't even blink._

_The trio in the doorway did though. _

_Tristan looked especially confused. "But uh, I've seen your dad, and this guy's not him."_

_Joey glared at him. "Clint treats me like I'm his son, and he's been there for me while my so-called father never was." He said acidly, the lights starting to flicker overhead. "He's more of a dad than that drunk ever was." _

_While Tristan had backed off, having seen just how awful Joey's old man had been, he also saw just _happy_ he looked when he called this Clint guy his dad. _

_T__éa though _didn't_ know how bad the guy was. "Joey, wouldn't it hurt you father's feelings if he heard you calling some other guy 'dad?'" she asked giving him a disapproving look. _

_Joey snorted. "No." he replied bluntly. "Haven't you listened to what I said before?" _

_"But…"_

_"No buts." Joey hissed as the lights started to flicker more rapidly and outside the room the hallway lights were doing the same. "That _man_ has only been here once, and that was to pull the plug on me."_

_Tristan and Yugi looked shocked, but T__éa looked as though her world had just crashed around her. "He, he really wanted you to die?" she asked quietly. _

_Now Joey had to stop from rolling his eyes. Well, duh. "My sister told me she heard the doctors arguing with him and that they kicked him out. Like I said, that was the one time he even came here."_

_"Where are you gonna stay now though? I think I could convince my sis to let you crash at our place..." Tristan offered._

_"That will not be necessary." Clint said. "Joey is coming to live with me when he's discharge from here."_

_"But what about your mom, Joey?" Yugi asked concerned. "Won't she be worried about you?" _

_Joey stared at him. "Yugi, you have a mother at home. I don't. And I can safely say she does not want me either." He said grimly, his previous anger fading away to nothing. _

_The lights stopped flickering all together, but no one took notice. _

His friends had left after that, but Clint had said he was going over to his mother's house the next day to get her to give him permission to take Joey in. He tried to think his mother didn't bother protesting, it really would be the only good thing she's ever done for him.

He wanted to hate her, like he could hate his old man, but he couldn't really. Not that it didn't mean he felt contempt for the woman, but she stopped being his mother the day she took his sister from him and didn't take him with her, no matter how much he had begged her to.

No, the only thing that kept him from hating her was the fact she honestly cared about his sister the way she had never cared about him. The woman had never been abusive; she just didn't _care_ about what happened to him.

Depressing thoughts aside, he checked his neatly done work and put it on the nightstand next to his bed. Tomorrow he'd be getting discharged from the hospital and he could go home. Or at least, he _hoped_ he could.

* * *

><p>Now, before almost everything in his life was shattered into a million pieces, Clint had never been one for patience. Ironic considering that his aim required that element, but <em>after<em> the _incident_, he'd learned to be _more_ patient.

That and the fact Joey was still breathing helped.

He had been ready to fall apart after he had killed the people that had murdered his family, not because he felt guilty, but because he thought that, for a second, Joey would be dead too. He had never protested the younger blonde's presence, and it had taken him moment to realize that maybe because Joey _hadn't_ been an actual-legally he meant-a part of his family that no one knew about him.

He had sneered thinking that it seemed like the drunk Joey lived with had been good for something after all. Being a place holder that is until he could get Joey out of there.

Which was why he was ringing the doorbell in civilian clothing instead of his Avenger costume-er, _outfit_.

The door opened after the second ring, and a brunette woman with brown eyes and short curled hair and starting to show signs of aging stood before him. Clint noted that this woman bore no resemblance to Joey what-so-ever, and if it wasn't the resemblance he saw with Joey's sister in this woman, he would have thought he'd gotten the wrong address.

"Hello, I'm Clint Barton; I'm here to talk to you about your son Joey?" he said.

There was a flash of something on the woman's face, but it was gone in a second. "Are you a police officer?" she asked dubiously.

"No, I'm not." Clint replied. "I'm from the hospital," A small lie, no harm done, "and came to tell you that your son will be discharged today and when you would be available to pick him up."

The woman still looked dubious though. "And a simple phone call would not suffice for that boy?" she asked caustically.

Clint surprised himself by how steady he kept his voice. "The reason for the visit was to ask for your permission as to where to place your son, as his _father_ has yet to be reached."

Mrs. Wheeler pursed her lips. "That boy is no son of mine, the hospital can do what they want with him." She said before closing the door in Clint's face.

The blond stood there for a moment, dumbfounded, before he turned to go back to his car. He preferred his Skycycle, but using _that_ mode of transportation would raise questions. And the fact he now had to work extra hard to keep anyone from knowing about Joey.

It wasn't that he didn't trust Joey; it was just that he didn't want him to get hurt _because_ of him. The _incident_ was proof enough that someone knew who he was, and he also knew that there were quite a few people who would jump at the chance to hurt him through Joey.

Still, he didn't like having to keep his job from him.

The door opened again and a sort of familiar voice called out quietly, "Wait."

Clint looked back and saw that it was Joey's sister Serenity he thought her name was. "Yeah?"

Serenity walked out and handed him a few pairs of shirt and pants. "Joey would sometimes come over here, secretly, and ask me to do his laundry because he couldn't. These are the only he has until you can get around to shopping for more."

Clint accepted the clothing, but looked at her strangely. "What makes you think I'd go shopping for him?" he asked carefully.

Serenity smiled, like she knew something he didn't. "You care about my brother, he told me all about you in the hospital and how you and…" she trailed off and didn't continue that train of thought. "Well, just saw how happy he looked, in fact I thought the lights were gonna blow out because they were so bright."

Clint had noticed the previous day that the lights flickered when Joey had gotten angry, and they had stopped when he had calmed down. Knowing they got brighter when he was happy was good to know for when training his powers started.

"It was nice to meet you again, Serenity." He said genuinely meaning it. Nice to know that there was still one other person who cared about Joey around.

Serenity smiled somewhat sadly. "My brother deserves some happiness in his life, and you being his father would make him immensely happy."

Though it wasn't said, Clint knew what she was implying. "Trust me, if I have anything to say about it, Joey's not going to be staying a Wheeler much longer."

The teen's smile widened. "Joey Barton has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"

The blond smiled back slightly. "Yes, yes it does."

* * *

><p>Joey stared at Clint like he had never seen him before. "You mean, she really said I could go with you?" he asked quietly.<p>

Clint nodded. "Not in so many words, but that's it, yeah." He didn't really think he could tell the kid that his own mother didn't even want him around.

Joey looked down at the clothes on his lap. "I'll get changed, be right out then."

"Fine." The older blond said before leaving and shutting the door behind him.

Joey knew that if he really let himself express his feelings, he was sure he'd probably make the entire building's power go out because he was so freaking happy! It may not have been adoption or even foster care, but it still meant he would be around someone he knew wouldn't hurt him.

Joey thought it would have been selfish to ask Clint to adopt him, so that's why he had reframed from asking or implying it. This though was still pretty much a dream come true.

A sudden depressing thought came to mind. _What if this was a dream?_

_'Am I dreaming?_' he asked himself and the answer he got back was 'no.'

Good enough for him.


	8. First Blood prt 2

A/N: I make no profit from this nor do I own any of the characters.

_Flasback/Dreams_

_'Thoughts'_

_"Speaking over the phone"_

"Speaking"

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7: First Blood prt 2<strong>

"This place…hasn't changed much." Joey said uncomfortably.

"Are you trying not to sound awkward, because you were here just last week." Clint said dryly.

Joey flushed as he looked away. "So, where do I sleep?" he asked tentatively.

"Joey, you don't have to be careful around me. All I want you to do is settle in. Just stay out of the garage and basement is all." Clint replied, his voice turning wry at the end.

Joey looked at him and smiled. "'Kay, I can do that." He said and the light overheard glowed brighter than it was supposed to. "Whoops." He muttered and the light dimmed to its regular setting.

"Go on, pick your room." The older man said making a shooing gesture at him.

Joey nodded and walked down the hall. He could hear his heartbeat in his ears, and he felt incredible intrusive. Why did he? Because just not long ago these rooms belonged to kids he viewed as younger siblings, younger than Serenity even. He would watch them when their parents would go out, he was their 'big brother,' and he _missed_ them.

Joey knew which room had belonged to whom, and even though the doors were shut, he was still scared to open any of them. He finally settled on the room near the end of the hall and with an uneasy breath, he opened the door.

The room was bare, besides a bed that is, but there was nothing else in there. He wasn't sure though if this made it better or worse. He knew that even if Clint _had_ cleared out the rooms, he wouldn't have thrown their things away.

Now though he felt there was a reason for the 'don't go into the basement' condition. Was their stuff down there? He decided not to think on it as he put his clothing and homework on the bed and walked out of the room.

He made his way into the kitchen and found the older man drinking a battle of water at the table; he took the seat across from him. "I got suspended from school-but you already know that." He said wryly as Clint nodded. "My suspension ends tomorrow and I was wondering…"

"Yes, you can go." Clint finished. "But you feel like anything's wrong, you call and I'll come get you, got it?"

Joey nodded. "Anything I should know though?"

"Sometimes my…job can be very demanding, and I may get called away suddenly, so you may not see me a lot some days after school." Clint explained.

"What about living here with you? Did you really get my 'mom' to say I could stay?" Joey asked once again.

"Yes, Joey, you don't have to worry about going to her." Clint replied. "Nor am I going to let you go back to your 'father,' wherever he may have ended up."

"You didn't kill him did you?" Joey asked flatly. "Not that I particularly _care_, but, you know what happened the last time you got in trouble with the police."

"Trust me Joey, even if I _did_ kill the guy, no one would ever find out." Clint said with a slight smirk.

"Good, I don't want you to get in trouble because of me again." Joey replied morosely as the fact Clint had a record was because of him.

"You didn't make me do anything I hadn't planned on doing." The older man rebuked.

"I guess." Joey said subdued as the lights dimmed before he realized what was happening and made his feelings blank.

"So, you've told me what powers you have so far, have you been using been trying to try and control them on your own?" Clint questioned.

Joey shook his head. "No, I couldn't do it before because I had no idea what my powers even _were_ until I used my Know-It-All power to figure out what my tech power was connected to." He explained. "And what do you mean by 'so far'?"

Clint idly scratched his head. "Well, you're still young, and you could have more abilities you have yet to gain. Though you're pretty much breaking the rules by having a variety of unrelated powers."

"No, I don't think they're unrelated. Or rather, not really anyway." Joey replied. "You see, my tech powers are connected to my emotions, and my…pyrokinesis was triggered when I was feeling incredibly hateful towards…him. And then there's my Know-It-All power, which is completely mental based."

"So you think you're powers are all based on some mental or emotional properties?" Clint guessed and Joey nodded. "I can work with that." He said thoughtfully. "I know you've probably been telling yourself this, but you should try to reign in any feelings that could trigger something someone is bound to notice."

Joey snorted. "Clint, no one questioned the fact I once wore sunglasses in the snow to cover up my black eyes, what makes you think they're gonna notice anything else concerning me?"

Clint's jaw tightened at the mention of 'black eyes,' but kept his voice free of any anger. "You're right." He said wryly. "You're always right." He acknowledged. "But, humor me at least."

Joey smiled slightly. "Sure, I can do that."

Neither of them cared that the light overheard glowed too bright.

A

_This was weird; he had never had a dream like this before. His ribs ached and his chest hurt. He looked down at where his hand rested against his ribs, only to see blood staining the shirt he was wearing. Why did he feel so crappy? What was going on? _

_The room was dark and windowless. It was too cold also. Why was it so cold? _

_The room was suddenly filled with light as the door to the room opened and a silhouette stood framed in the doorway, but the darkness contrasting with the light obscured any definite features, though he did feel overwhelming resentment toward this person. _

_"Come to finish me off?" he spat in a voice he recognized as Buck's._

_Joey wondered what was going on indeed._

_The figure in the doorway flashed an unpleasant grin. "No, you decrepit old man; you're going to be used to send a message. That you trained someone to take down your old student with his own level of skill."_

_"You may have his skill now, Barney, but you'll never have his heart! His _or_ the kid's." Buck retorted._

_Joey blinked, and if he was right, then even in his dream, which was feeling less and less like a dream, Buck had given him a rare compliment. It also meant that if this was to be taken seriously, then someone was after Clint! _

_The figure in the doorway scoffed. "That kid got off lucky. I was too surprised to realize you had taken on another student and took pity on him by knocking him out instead of killing him. Actually, I think it was the novelty that made me spare him, to see how much of a challenge he can put up before I eventually kill him."_

_That made Joey go cold, or was that Buck he was feeling go cold? It didn't matter really as if this was to be taken seriously, then he'd just heard that his life was at stake. The sharp retort was cut off by the man closing the door and the room went dark again._

_'Gotta save him.' Joey thought, pushing the foremost thought to the front of his mind. 'Somehow.'_

_He was hit with a wave of surprise. 'Joey?'_

_That made it feel real. 'This is really happening.' Joey thought. 'I'm gonna get killed.'_

_'Joey!' _

_'Huh?'_

_'What are you doing in my head?' _

_Joey sent out a wave of nervousness. 'I didn't know I was in your head, I had thought I was just dreaming.' His panic rose. 'I'm gonna die.'_

_'Listen to me, you're not, gonna die. I know Clint won't let you.'_

_'Why are you not freaked out about this-about me being in your head?' Joey thought with the nervousness turning into confusion._

_'Joey, in my life, you learn things that just take the surprise out of anything.' _

_'You called me by my name.' Joey thought surprised. 'You've always called me 'kid.''_

_'Because that's what you _are_…Goodbye kid.'_

_Joey blinked, then felt his presence being forced out. 'No, wait! Tell me where you are so you can be rescued! Nooo-_

"-oooo!" Joey screamed as he shot out his hand and tried to grab at nothing as he woke up.

He felt hands grabbed his shoulders as he was put into a sitting position. He gasped as his eye snapped opened and he stared into a pair of concerned blue eyes. "Joey, what's wrong?"

"I…I think I know who took Buck." Joey replied coarsely.

Clint stared at him. "Wha…what? You serious about his?"

Joey nodded as he wiped a thin trail of sweat off his brow. "Yes, somehow, I was able to get inside his head in my dream. I think it may be due to the fact I've been stressing how I couldn't save him when I had the chance." He ignored the sharp look Clint gave him and continued. "Does the name…" he thought for a second, "Barney mean anything to you? That's what Buck called the guy that took him."

Joey had never once seen Clint look so pale. And the only time he'd ever seen anything close to such an abject look of disbelief and horror on his face was the mirrored expression _he'd_ had when he had been told about the _incident_.

Whoever this person was, this was definitely not a good reaction.

"Did you really hear the name Barney being specifically said?" Clint asked after a long silence.

Joey nodded. "Yeah, why? Do you know who this guy is?"

"He's…" Clint paused, as if he was trying to skirt around telling him the actual truth, "dead, he's supposed to be dead."

Joey stared at him this time. He decided not to push since this was an obviously uncomfortable topic, so he just eventually nodded his head. "Okay." He said faintly and he absently used his Know-It-All ability to tell him what time it was.

5:30. Not bad, but not good either.

"If it's the same to you, I'm just gonna get up now. I don't think I could back to sleep after that." He added.

Clint looked ready to protest, but just nodded after a moment. "Fine, and I have to make a call." He said before practically running out of the room.

Joey cleaned himself up in the bathroom and changed into the spare uniform he'd given Serenity to wash. He grimaced slightly as he thought about all his books he'd lost in the fire. _'But better the books than my life_.' He thought and went to the kitchen.

Not many knew it, but Joey enjoyed cooking. He didn't take cooking class for the hell of it. He had wanted to be doing something because he liked it. That, and cooking and baking were like science and math. Precise, and directive.

Not to mention you got to eat the stuff you made. That was a good incentive.

Joey decided to make something simple with what he could find, as the groceries looked like they needed to be stocked up. He put the frying pan on and cracked a few eggs on it, letting it cook while he put the bread in the toaster.

Joey flipped the eggs and when the first one was finished, he put it on the toast and took a plate out of the cupboard and finished making two more then repeated the action of putting the finished egg sandwiches on the plate. He picked up the plate and took the bottle of ketchup out of the fridge and set both plate and bottle on the table.

He sat down and squirted some ketchup on his sandwich and began to eat his breakfast.

Clint came in and grabbed one of the two remaining sandwiches. "Gotta go into work early. Don't know when I'll be back." He said in between mouthfuls of his sandwich.

"Wait a sec." Joey said before getting out of his seat and wrapping up the remaining sandwich in tin foil before handing it to the older man. "So you won't starve." He said and sat back down.

Clint smirked as he reached over the table and messed up Joey's hair. "Thanks kid, don't know what I'd ever do without you." He said before putting on his coat and going out the door. "Remember what I said yesterday!" Was the last thing said before the door was shut.

Joey finished off his own sandwich and got started on doing the dishes. Afterwards, he went into the living room and put the T.V on. He'd never been one for television as understandably his 'father' had always been in front of it, and he had wanted to stay as distant from him as possible.

Now though, he figured he had never missed much.

Joey stared at the blank screen for a moment after he'd shut the chatterbox off and went back to his new room and grabbed the small pile of homework he'd completed. He could spend the remaining time he had before he went to school to check over his work.

A

"Hey, Joey!" The blond felt a hearty slap on his back from his brown-haired friend. "Good to see you man!"

"Tristan, if this is some ploy to get me to introduce you to my sister, then you forget it." Joey growled.

Tristan played dumb. "What are you talking about, man?"

Joey rolled his eyes before he met up with his other two friends. "I miss anything while I was gone?"

"Nothing particularly interesting happened, unless you count the fact Alexis announced she was giving out invitations to her Sweet Sixteen party at lunch today from last week." Téa said bitterly, and she had made it known she didn't care for the popular blond girl.

"Téa, what makes you think I _care_ about who a rich girl is inviting to a party we're not going to be invited too?" Joey asked rhetorically, and wisely enough, Téa didn't answer. "How you can put up with her and her followers is a mystery. I think I'd pull out my teeth if I had to share two classes with her, let alone one. Pulling teeth has got to be a lot less painful that's for sure." He remarked cynically.

"Well look whose back." A male voice said sarcastically. "The Mutt had returned to his pack of geeks."

Joey glared over his shoulder at the brown-haired male. "Kaiba." He said coldly. "Why don't you run along, Moneybags, I don't want my day to be ruined with your presence." He snapped.

"That's…kinda cold, Joey." Yugi said tentatively.

"Whatever." Joey said dismissively. "Catch you guys later." He said in a lukewarm way to his friends before he and Kaiba had a glaring contest as Joey walked past him.

That had not how he wanted his morning at school to start. Joey though realized the only real difference between him and Moneybags was that he _allowed_ himself to have friends instead of just dismissing people. He had even noticed the rich boy brushed off the _other_ snooty rich kids mixed in with the 'lower class' kids as they were called.

'Lower class' his ass, Joey thought derisively. Just because not everyone could have big parties whenever they felt like it and get away with metaphorical murder did not make the regular kids lower, it made them, well, _regular._

Joey made it to his homeroom class and the smile on Jessica's face made him feel just a bit better. "Hi, Miss Drew."

"Welcome back, Joey." Miss Drew said warmly in her English accent. He smile dimmed just a bit though. "Principal Shepard told me to send you to his office when you arrived here." She said and held out her hands. "Give me the homework though and I'll make sure it gets sorted."

Joey handed her the work and grinned a little. "You rock Miss Drew." He said before departing from the room and went down the hallway towards the main office. He looked at the secretary as she looked up. "Miss Fontaine, I'm here to see Principal Shepard."

Miss Fontaine nodded. "Yes, go right on in." she said cordially.

Joey nodded back and opened the door, poking his head in to see the balding principal sitting at his desk. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes, Mr. Wheeler, take a seat." Shepard said gesturing to the chairs in front of his desk. Joey closed the door and took a seat. "Now, as I understand, you have been through quite a lot in the last few days." Shepard stated. "And that is why I am saying that for your own good, you will be having sessions with Dr. Sofen after school."

"Sofen?" Joey repeated. "You mean the woman whose been trying to get me to take counselling since my freshman year?" He questioned dubiously.

"I know you are not overly fond of her, but she is a qualified psychiatrist that has helped students in the past." Shepard stated.

_'You also forgot to mention that the woman's also suspected of causing the damage she claims to fix.'_ Joey thought sardonically. He had nothing against the principal; it was just that he failed to spot the obvious. Such as anyone else would have had the woman investigated. _'Might as well see what she wants with me then._' He thought.

"You're right, I'm not fond of her, but I do admit that I need someone to talk to, and Dr. Sofen is the right choice." Joey said and had to stop himself from gagging on his own words. "After school you say? Not a problem."

Shepard smiled. "That's the spirit, now I've kept you from your class long enough." He said gesturing to the door.

Joey smiled and nodded. His smile dropped the second he was back in the hall. "I am so not looking forward to after school." He muttered darkly.

* * *

><p>"Joey, I've been wondering…why are your eyes…different?" Yugi asked nervously as he sat down at the lunch table with his tray.<p>

Joey thought fast. "I'm wearing contacts." He lied, but it was a believable lie. Unlike his friends, he'd always opted to _bring_ his lunch with him. He couldn't afford to spend money on school cafeteria food.

"Oh great, she's doing it _now?_" Téa grumbled as a pretty blond girl started going around the cafeteria handing out small envelopes. "Couldn't she do that when people are _not_ eating?"

Joey rolled his eyes as he began to eat his turkey sandwich. It amazed him to some extent that Téa could be so hypocritical sometimes. Talking about friendship one minute and bashing some other girl, not that Joey _liked_ the other girl either, but ability or not, he didn't think he'd ever understand girls.

"Joey, right?" A voice asked and Joey looked up at Alexis looked surprised.

"Yeah, that's right." Joey replied.

"Here." Alexis said holding out an envelope to him.

Joey blinked and looked at the purple envelope. "Hn, no thanks." He said trying to sound at least sincere.

Alexis looked at him in shock, the looks also mirrored on the faces of his friends. "What?" Then she looked angry. "Do you know how many of you people would kill to get an invitation to _my_ party?"

Joey held back a sneer. He had other things to do than go to a party where there were only going to be snooty rich kids mocking him. Why even bother inviting him? Joey looked at the party date and it only cemented his decision not to go. He wanted to spend what little money he had for his sister's present, whose birthday was on the same day as Alexis'.

"Then go ask one of them, I'm not interested in going to your party." Joey retorted. "Now _please_," he made it sound sarcastic, "leave me alone, I'm trying to have lunch here."

Alexis glowered at him before she moved on, and Téa looked at him amazed. "That was probably the first time I've ever seen anyone turn down Alexis Rhodes."

"I'm just one nobody to her, so what does me being there even matter?" Joey retorted logically.

"At least it shows that you're noticed." Yugi pointed out.

Joey reframed from rolling his eyes. _'Yeah, 'noticed' probably being the laughing stock_.' He thought sullenly. While some part of him, a part very deep and very small, _was_ actually flattered, the colder, more calculative and logical part of him just couldn't help but question the sudden inclusion.

His attention was drawn to the puzzle around Yugi's neck and couldn't help but look at it strangely. Sure, he'd noticed that Yugi had been wearing it for a little while now, just before he'd gotten suspended actually. "Hey Yug', where'd you get your puzzle from anyway?"

"Oh, uh, my grandpa gave it to me. It took me eight years to put it together." Yugi said nervously.

Joey stared at him. Eight years? But as he looked at it… "Must have been one heck of a head scratcher then."

"Yeah, it was actually." Yugi said smiling bashfully; then his smile dimmed. "Though after you got suspended for sticking up for me, the guy got out into a coma. And…" his voice dropped, "I can't remember anything I did after school and woke up the next day."

There was a silence as Joey, Tristan, and Téa all looked at him with varying degrees of concern. "Um, make sure you don't mention this to anyone else." Joey said in concern. "Especially to someone that would recommend you go to see Dr. Sofen."

There was a collective shudder. They all knew that if you didn't have a problem before you went in to see Sofen, then there was a guarantee you'd _come out_ with problems at best, and leave with a massive emotional breakdown at worst.

"Still can't believe you gotta go see her, let alone you _agreed_ to it." Tristan said incredulously.

Joey sighed. "I know, I know."

* * *

><p>"Ugh, I hate that woman." Joey muttered as he took the spare key out from the top of the door. He had been muttering curses and deprecating Dr. Karla Sofen all the way home. He honestly had never hated someone so much, though Kaiba and his old man were all cutting it close.<p>

She had spent the entire hour session trying to get him to talk about his feelings. It didn't sound so bad at first, but then it started to get weird, like her asking if the time he spent around his science teacher made him feel anything.

Yes, he hated her a lot.

Joey went into the house and was about to close the door when he heard the screeching of tires and looked back just to see the same van from before speed by and the door slid open quick enough and a battered form was tossed out before it sped away.

Joey raced out to the form and saw the van turn the corner, and he managed to see the licence plate before he looked down at the form of Buck Chisholm. "Old man? Are you alright?"

"Kid, I've been…forced to train some uppity bastard, beaten within an inch of my life…how the hell do you think I feel?" Buck wheezed out, still managing to make Joey feel like an idiot for his question.

"Uh, yeah, sorry." Joey replied. He tried to find any wounds, but there were too many to try and stop. "Come on, let's get you inside, then I'll call an ambulance." He said trying to lift him up.

Buck grabbed Joey's arm as he stopped him. "No, Joey. It's too late for that." He wheezed out. "Tell Clint that I'm sorry for shooting him in the arm…"

"What?" Joey questioned; then the bigger impact of what was happening hit him. "No, you can't die old man. Let me help you damn it!"

Buck though ignored this as he continued on. "And Joey, you're not so bad after all…." His grip lessened on Joey's arm and fell to the ground.

Joey felt his eyes sting as he looked down at the paling body. "Buck? Old man?" he asked aloud nudging the body with his hand.

His vision blurred and even though he knew he was crying, he honestly didn't care. There were some people worth crying over, and his earliest teacher was one of them.


	9. Balance Of Power

A/N: I make no profit from this nor do I own any of the characters.

_Flasback/Dreams_

_'Thoughts'_

_"Speaking over the phone"_

"Speaking"

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 8: Balance Of Power<strong>

Joey stared down at the lowered casket and felt empty. Second funeral he's been too for a person he cared about. Sucked to be him. Then again, it wasn't just him, was it?

"Joey, you alright?" his sister asked as she stood beside him.

"Yeah, just fine." Joey lied as he looked at her. "Look, you didn't have ta come here you know…"

"I know." Serenity cut him off. "But I also know that you cared about him and I didn't want you to be alone."

"Wasn't alone, Clint's here too." Joey replied, looking to his other side, only to see the older man had left. "Well, he _was_ here." He said dryly.

"Um, Joey, I know this may be a bad time, but I was wondering if you could come to my birthday party?" Serenity asked tentatively. "Mom even said she'd let you in the house for that day."

Joey smiled darkly. "Yeah, I'll come. Though you were right about this not being the best of times to ask." He said before looking back down.

Serenity saw the dark purple glow he was giving off and knew that even without seeing the color that he was incredibly upset. When she had looked at Clint, she saw the same dark purple glow Joey had, though it often fluxed between this color and dark red as well.

There was a horn honk and Serenity grimaced. "That'd be mom right now coming to pick me up."

"Though the face she's avoiding me is proof she doesn't want me around." Joey retorted. "But don't worry though; I'm still coming to your party."

Serenity hugged Joey. "Thanks bro." she said before departing.

Joey sent one more look at the new grave before he walked over to where he knew Clint would be. "This sucks." He said when he arrived at the four graves lined up and felt the ache in his heart pang again.

"Life sucks, I know that, and you know that." Clint retorted dourly.

"I was right there, I should have just ignored what the old man said and gotten the phone." Joey growled. With all the power he seemed to have, he couldn't do a thing to change anything. "It's my fault he's-"

"Don't. Finish. That. Sentence." Clint said sharply. "It wasn't your fault. This was probably all planned from the get-go."

"Not from what I saw in Buck's head." Joey mumbled. When Clint finally looked at him, he elaborated. "The guy I told you about, said he was coming after you-" There was no visible change in Clint's expression, much like he expected to hear nothing else-"and then he said he was gonna come after me to see how much of a fight I'd put up and…kill me."

"Like hell I'm letting _that_ happen." Clint said scowling.

Joey smiled ruefully. "Buck said the exact same thing you said, only worded somewhat differently. He also told me that before he died that, he was said he was sorry for shooting you in the arm…?" he trailed off looking at Clint in confusion.

The older man's scowl faded as his mouth pressed into a hard line. "Nothing, just, nothing."

Any further talk was cut off when a woman in a gray suit walked up to them, her black hair in a bun and she looked at both of them, looking somewhat confused before settling her gaze on the older looking of the two. "Clint Barton?"

"Yeah?" The blond asked raising a brow.

"I'm Jennifer Walters, I was Mr. Chisholm's lawyer, and he stated in his will that there were things left to you and a 'Joey Wheeler.'" She said casting a glance at the teenager.

"Buck had a will?" Both Clint and Joey asked in surprise.

The fact that they found the will strange and not that she was a lawyer was rather amusing.

* * *

><p>"Well, this is depressing." Joey commented after the will had stated what he and Clint had been left.<p>

"That you have to do some cleaning or that you have to sign off the papers as the new owner of Buck's property from the police?" Clint questioned.

"Bit of both." Joey admitted shrugging. "Can't believe the old man gave me his property though and left you all the money and things he stole."

"Even in death Buck has managed to get one over on me." Clint retorted dryly. "Still, I believe some people may be glad to have their stuff back-if they're still alive that is."

"You're not gonna keep it?" Joey asked mildly.

Clint rolled his eyes. "Think about it, Joey; all that stuff is _stolen_."

Joey mulled it over before agreeing with his pseudo-guardian. "Yeah, I get it; you could get into a lot of trouble if you keep it."

"And that Joey, is the joke." Clint replied sardonically. "When do you want to go over to the station and sign your name off on the property?"

"Well, since the newspapers have declared this now a murder investigation, seizing the property right now might not be the best idea; it's still a crime scene after all." Joey explained.

"How sensible of you, but I also…read that Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D have taken over the investigation, and I don't think they'll need the crime scene anymore." Clint said with an enigmatic smile on his face.

"How do you know that for sure?" Joey asked furrowing his brow, before another question popped into his head. "Do you work for S.H.I.E.L.D? Is _that_ why you won't tell me what your job is?"

"No, I can say for certain that I'm not a _S.H.I.E.L.D_ agent." Clint answered chuckling. "As for what I do for a living, well, that's a secret for reasons I can't discus."

Joey rolled his eyes, knowing that despite the fact they had just come back from a funeral that had reopened wounds they were still trying to get over, distractions certainly helped in dulling the sting. "How about we try and work on controlling my powers now?"

"Sure, well start off with your pyro kinesis first, since I'm sure you don't want to burn the house down by accident." Clint answered.

Joey winced at the reminder, but was glad that no one had gotten hurt the only other time he'd used his fire power. "Fine, what should I start off with first?"

Clint went into the kitchen and came back with a packet of matches. "Try lighting a match up, and since matches are already made to light up with a spark, you'll know you're doing it right-even _if_ all you're able to produce is a spark."

Joey nodded and picked up one match. He stared at it in concentration, much like how he tried to use his Know-It-All ability. Nothing happened though. He then remembered the sheer hatred he had felt when he'd set the apartment complex on fire.

He thought of Kaiba's sneers and insults, then of Sofen and her too personal questions.

SNAP!

The match in Joey's hand blew up like a firecracker and while Joey flinched in surprise to see that it had literally combusted and blown up, Clint seemed more concerned with the fact there was no burns on Joey's hand as he checked it over.

The smell of smoke in the air made him uneasy, but remembered that he was learning to _control_ his powers so another accident wouldn't happen. "I saw my hand get set on fire in the apartment, I put it out to see that it wasn't burned." Joey shrugged. "Guess I'm immune to this power."

"So you are." Clint agreed as he sat back down. "Though why don't you try and make the spark a little _less_ strong." He suggested.

Now that Joey knew what _triggered_ his pyro kinesis, he figured it was what would help him keep it check. Hatred was just an emotion, a very strong negative emotion, but an emotion nonetheless; and there was a _very_ thin line between emotional and mental powers capacities.

If he treated his powers as all mental-by-default, then he could his mind could _make_ it work, like when he had been a 'guest' in Buck's head. Sure, he had been asleep at the time, but he had been _feeling_ guilty. Another emotion that manifested through his mind.

It was all theory, but progress was all trial and error really.

Joey stared at the second match he'd taken out of the pack and stared at it. He focused on the feeling of hatred and tried to lessen it to being a purely mental move. He smirked when the match lit up, but frowned when it only lasted a few seconds before it blew up.

"Well, that's a start." Clint commented idly.

Joey glared at him. "Don't you have stolen items to return?"

"I can do that tomorrow." Clint said waving his hand dismissively. "I wanna watch the light show."

Joey rolled his eyes before picking up another match.

* * *

><p><em>'I can't believe I went through an entire pack of matches and a package of chicken strips before I got <em>some_ semblance of control over my pyro kinesis yesterday; and that's just lighting stuff up._' Joey thought as he ate his turkey sandwich.

Still, he supposed he should be glad Clint had been so nonchalant about how Joey had burned what was supposed to have been their dinner to a crisp. Luckily take-out had been the older man's specialty, though there was a promise of him scrounging up electronics that were out of date or obsolete to help Joey work on his technological power from his work place.

Joey had noticed the man seemed highly amused to note that there was always techie junk lying around that was never used or otherwise broken. That made Joey wonder again _where_ Clint worked exactly.

Of course though he never got his answer, and using his power to find out would be an invasion of trust that he just couldn't afford to lose.

"Joey, you feeling okay?" Yugi asked in concern.

"Hmm, oh, yeah I'm fine, just a little…" Joey trailed off and wondered if it would be a good idea to tell his friends about what had happened. So he tried another route. "You guys hear anything about the guy that got kidnapped and killed in the news?" he questioned carefully as he tried to distance himself from the inquiry.

"Yeah, heard the guy's funeral was yesterday, but nobody knew where it was being held." Téa answered. "Think anybody went?"

"Guy was a supervillain, I sure wouldn't wanna go to _that_ type of funeral." Tristan said.

"I also heard that the Avengers were investigating the man's murder." Yugi said thoughtfully. "Why did you wanna know Joey?"

Joey looked at each other their faces and realized something: none of them cared. Logically he knew that by default they weren't going to care about a supervillain, but this was different. None of them knew the _person_, but he did and despite the rocky start they had he had still cared about the man.

The old man was like a grouchy uncle you originally put up with because of your parents-or in this case Clint-then you found you actually liked them despite their vitriolic temperament.

"Just curious is all." Joey finally answered, knowing his reasoning and sympathy would go unacknowledged.

* * *

><p>In the Avengers' mansion, Hawkeye was finishing up with the list of stolen items he had 'inherited' and any missing pieces. Some he had recognized and did not look forward to returning some of them, considering he knew how…'temperamental' some of them could be.<p>

Then he had private laugh when he saw that one of the pieces missing was something that belonged to Stark. His laughter abruptly stopped when he realized that _he_ would have to return the piece taken.

Luckily though, the money was all accounted for and found the banks it had been taken from relatively easy. What was not going to be easy was the length of the list. Buck had certainly seemed to have been a better thief than a mercenary.

Hawkeye finished copying the lists and printed it out just as the door opened and a red-haired woman came in wearing a black suit. "Hey 'Tasha." He said closing the tabs on the computer and picked up the list.

"Clint." Natasha returned in her Russian accent. "What is it that you are in here?"

"Oh, just looking for some stuff." Hawkeye replied nonchalantly. "Have you seen any of Stark's toys that he's going to throw away?"

Natasha smirked. "Didn't see you a scavenger."

Hawkeye shrugged. "Eh, Stark's trash is another man's treasure."

* * *

><p>"So, how do feel about your parent's divorce?" Dr. Sofen questioned.<p>

Joey internally glowered at the blond woman. He _really_ didn't like her. "What's it matter? My old man's in the wind-_'Or dead'_-"and my mom doesn't want me."

"Then where have you been staying all this time?" Sofen asked tilting her head.

Joey tried not to glare. "With someone who cares about me." He said simply.

"With Miss Drew?" Sofen guessed with an insufferably smirk.

Joey's emotions were starting to get the better of him, but he refused to satisfy this woman with a reaction. "No, I'm not staying with her."

"Well that's good." Sofen said leaning forward as she placed her elbows on her knees. "It would be considered highly inappropriate for a student to be staying with a teacher of the opposite gender, not to mention a minor." She 'tsked.'

This time, Joey smirked. "Like how inappropriate it is for a school psychiatrist eyeing a minor like a piece of meat, or how said psychiatrist sends kids to asylums for diagnosing problems they never had before until they had met said person." He retorted.

Sofen leaned back, looking unperturbed by Joey's accusations. "You're a bright boy, Joey, and I really do think it would be a shame to see such promise to meet an unfortunate end."

Joey stared at the woman incredulously. "Did you just _threaten_ me?"

"I did no such thing; I merely pointed out how such accusations could have disastrous results for someone so full of promise." Sofen replied casually, though her eyes betrayed her tone as she stared shrewdly at him.

"That sounded even more like one!" Joey said angrily.

"Oh, our time is up." Sofen said abruptly, and gestured for him to leave. Joey did so, only for the woman to dig her manicured nails into his shoulder as he was out of the room and leaned in close enough to him that her hair brushed against his cheek. "You really should watch what you say; I wouldn't want something to happen to you." She hissed.

Joey felt her move away and heard the door close. He glared at the door as the hall lights flickered rapidly. _'I really,_ really _hate__ her_.'


	10. Caught In A Snare

A/N: I make no profit from this nor do I own any of the characters.

_Flasback/Dreams_

_'Thoughts'_

_"Speaking over the phone"_

"Speaking"

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 9: Caught In A Snare<strong>

"Wow, where'd you get this stuff?" Joey asked staring at the box of electronics on the dining table.

"Work." Clint replied simply.

"You didn't steal this stuff, did you?" Joey asked bluntly as he stared at his pseudo-guardian with some small amount of suspicion.

Clint raised a brow. "You think I'd really steal this junk? Besides, St-someone said it was gonna get thrown out anyway."

"Well, alright." Joey said as he stared back at the box and didn't appear to notice the man's slip up. "Think though, if I can control my powers properly, no one will have to suffer for my mistakes again."

"Joey-"

"I know." Joey held up a hand. "The apartment going up in flames was an accident since it was done in self-defence, but people were still left without a home because of me. That fire could also have been easily been an electrical fire just the same." He said sighing.

To get out of the depressing line of conversation, Clint picked out a digital clock that had been broken with some wires missing. "Now, since your techno ability is able to affect things around you, you should by default be able to make it so tech also _works_ around you; so I want you to concentrate on making this clock work."

"But it's already scrapped." Joey pointed out.

"Even so, you _should_ be able to work around that and _make_ it work." Clint explained as he set the clock on the table. "Even if it's just a blink of the numbers, it'll be a start."

Joey stared dubiously at Clint for a second before relenting. "Oh alright." He said and stared down at the clock, focusing on controlling his emotions. He tried to siphon through his feelings about what might be appropriate to try, then the unbidden memory of Sofen threatening him appeared in his mind and he glared.

The clock then had spontaneously burst into flames.

As Joey's eye twitched, Clint calmly got the fire extinguisher and put the fire out. "Well, that wasn't exactly the power we were working on." He deadpanned.

Joey slumped in his chair. "Sorry, it's just…" he trailed off and wondered if he should tell him what went on earlier in the day. Then he remembered that Clint was one of the adults that actually gave a damn about him. "It's the school counsellor, I've been told to take sessions with her from the principal to talk about my feelings." He explained.

"Is there something wrong?" The older man asked.

"All the students know and worry about going to see Dr. Sofen, as a lot of kids have gone in okay, but come out with breakdowns that send them to a hospital." Joey replied seriously. "I only agreed to go because I thought I could see what she was up to; and today when she asked how I felt about my parent's divorce, she asked if I was staying with a teacher with this look on her face." he continued. "Then when I said no she said how inappropriate it would be if I _was_ staying with a teacher; I lost it then and called her out on how she's been sending kids out with breakdowns and how she looks at _me_-"

"Wait, what?" Clint interrupted sharply and sat up in his chair. "This woman…she hasn't done anything to you, has she?"

Recognizing the question for what Clint was really asking, Joey shook his head. "She hasn't done anything like..._that_ to me." He replied. "She threatened me though, three times, the last being just as I was leaving."

"What the hell kind of school system does your school have to turn a blind eye to someone who's supposed to help kids only to screw with their heads without an investigation?" Clint asked angrily.

"That's what I always thought." Joey replied. "Though I never acted on this because I figured no one would ever believe me."

"Well I believe you, and these threats stop here." Clint replied as he got out of his seat and went to retrieve his coat.

"You're not gonna kill are you?" Joey asked, thinking that it was starting to sound strange for that question to become almost automatic.

"No." Clint said as he put on the coat and went to get his keys from his room. When he came back, he took a twenty out of his pocket and put it on the table. "Here's money for pizza, I'll be back late, so lock the door and keep working on your control." He instructed before going out the door.

Joey stared at the door, before looking back at the box and rummaging through it. He found an old cell phone in it and a more materialistic thought came over him. If he could get this phone to work, then he wouldn't have to endure teasing from his classmates about not having one.

His more practical side made him more aware of the fact that if he had a phone he could use it for any emergencies now. He looked through the box again for any other stuff that he could use.

* * *

><p>Not bothering to switch into his costume, Clint flashed his Avengers card at the gate and after the scan was done, the gate opened up and he drove his car in. The thought that someone could be so cruel as to create problems for kids truly sickened him; and the fact this woman had threatened Joey only made him angrier.<p>

Once he found substantial enough evidence, that woman was going down.

Clint logged onto the main computer, as Stark's tech _was_ the fastest and he'd be able to gather the evidence needed to make the police start an investigation. He types in 'Dr. Sofen' as he recalled what Joey had called the woman and 'Domino High.'

Pay dirt! He read through the information offered about how several students each year got sent to asylums because they would break down after seeing Dr. Sofen. Several of the parents tried to make the school check her background, but nothing ever came of it.

Printing out the number of students that either suffered from breakdowns or mental problems that were not ever noticed before he then looked up more on the woman and found even _more_ articles about how she had been fired from various mental clinics because patients she worked with began developing severe depression and committed suicide.

Clint gathered up his research and headed off to change into his spare costume. Seeing this would probably be more useful coming from a sanctioned superhero than just a concerned parent. Or, parental substitute in this case.

People tended to work more on things if they believed the government would swoop in. And after having been undermined once, he was sure they'd take the opportunity to put away a psycho.

* * *

><p>Captain Stacy was looking through another case file when the window to his office opened up and a man in a purple outfit jumped in, a bow and arrow quiver on his back. "There is a door." He said dryly.<p>

"Yes, I know, but I'm sure your people aren't too pleased with the Avengers taking over Chisholm's murder." Hawkeye replied casually.

"You'd by right." George replied and looked over at the man. "Now why are you here?"

Hawkeye walked over and dropped a folder on the man's desk. "There's a woman, Dr. Karla Sofen. There's reason to believe that she is a serious threat to the mental health of the Domino High students. Three emotional breakdowns reported just this _month_."

George looked through the file at the papers. "Why bring this to me? Why not do your own investigation."

"Because I can't let this be connected to me, too many questions will be asked." Hawkeye replied solemnly.

Captain Stacy raised a brow at the uncharacteristically serious expression. "'Too many questions?'" he repeated. "Then I take it the rest of your team doesn't know about this?"

"No, I'd prefer it that way if they didn't." Hawkeye confirmed.

"May I ask the reason _why_ you want this woman to be arrested? Other than the fact you believe she's a serious threat to children." George questioned.

Hawkeye stared at the man, and then sighed. "You have a kid, right?" When the captain nodded, he continued. "And you'd do anything to keep them safe,_ right_?"

A look of dawning comprehension passed over Captain Stacy's face. "You have a child that goes to Domino?"

"My son." Hawkeye replied bluntly. _'Well, he's practically my son anyway._' He thought. "He alluded that Sofen has acted rather…_inappropriately_ around him and that she threatened him." He explained. "Now, I want the police to handle this, because I don't think I could stop myself from killing her if _I_ handled it."

"I see your point." There was a pause. "As much as I'm sure you wanna hear that'll this will be priority number one, there's still other cases."

"Just make it _a_ priority." Hawkeye said keeping his voice carefully neutral. "Though I do swear that if this is handled very soon, _I'll handle it myself._"

* * *

><p>"Hey guys, check it out!" Joey boasted as he showed his friends his new-old-cellphone. It had taken him about an hour to get it to work and another two hours to get it too <em>stay<em> working. But now his hard work had paid off and he had a cell.

"So you finally got a phone huh?" Tristan asked in amusement.

"Did your…" Téa trailed off uncomfortably. "Um, how'd you come across it?" she asked instead.

"Clint got it for me." Joey answered bluntly, as it wasn't really a lie. The man _had_ gotten it for him, Joey though just left out the part where he made it work.

"Uh oh, some kid's getting picked on by Alexis and her posse." Téa said sympathetically.

Joey looked over his shoulder and saw the blond and her friends harassing a girl he recognized from his science class. He detested it when others thought they could bully people just because they felt entitled to it. He walked over to the red-haired girl and made a point of ignoring Alexis and her friends. "Hey, Andrea right?"

The girl looked at him. "Yes."

"I'm Joey; I'm in your Science class." Joey replied genially as he put his hand out and smiled at her. "How about I walk you to class?"

Andrea stared at his hand before tentatively touching it, her expression turning to astonishment as she grasped it and smiled back. "That would be wonderful, Joey."

They both walked away from the three girls and up the stairs of the school. Andrea kept her hand firmly held in Joey's even when the blond tried to pry his hand free gently. He decided to just let her have the comfort as he often saw the girl sitting alone and being picked on by other girls.

When they reached class, some of the students were already there, but made no notice of Joey or Andrea. Jessica looked up though and smiled. "Mr. Wheeler, I need to speak with you, outside please."

The students snickered and Joey scowled at them before Andrea released his hand. "Sure teach." He said and they both stepped out of the classroom. "What is it?"

Jessica's smile widened. "I have been asked by a colleague from Empire State University's science center if I anyone who might be interested in an internship there, and while I know you may be a bit younger…I recommended you."

Joey stared at her; then gave a real grin. "You serious? Me?"

Jessica nodded. "You're very intelligent, and this will help give you a variety of options to think about."

Joey's smile dimmed somewhat. "But you didn't answer my other question? Why me? Why not," he grimaced, "Kaiba or even Bastion?"

"Because neither of them have any use for it." Jessica replied. "And before you start thinking you're second best, neither of _them_ has the flair for Science that _you_ have. That's why I chose you, because I know you'll work hard at it and not just be there thinking it's a waste of time."

"Thanks Miss Drew." Joey said gratefully. "Would it be okay if I go call my dad-er, my guardian?"

Jessica gave him an odd look, but smiled again. "Class starts in 5 minutes, make it quick. Oh, and the internship starts tomorrow at 3:30 and ends at 6:00." She explained before going back into the class room.

Joey took out his new-old cell and dialed the number Clint had given him. The phone on the other line rang a few times before the other line was acknowledged.

_"Yeah?"_

"Hey, Clint, it's me, Joey." The younger blond replied.

_"What are you calling at this hour?"_ There was an underlining of surprise in Clint's voice. "_Shouldn't you be at…you know?"_

Joey's brow furrowed at the change of tone, before remembering that Clint was probably at work right now and was being careful to make it sound like he was _not_ talking to a kid. "I'm here. I was just calling from the cell I found in the box of stuff you gave me to work."

_"You managed to get it to work?_" Clint asked. _"Anything else?"_

"Sorta; I'm almost done fixing up a laptop and just need to get a PDA working." Joey answered.

_"That's great."_

"Thanks Clint." Joey preened, even though the man couldn't see it. "I called to tell you that I got to be an intern at ESU that starts tomorrow after school."

_"Terrific_." There was a cough in the background and Joey had the feeling he'd probably just interrupted a meeting.

"Sorry for disturbing your meeting." He said remorsefully.

"_You didn't interrupt anything, just an egghead talking, that's all."_

"Hey, I'm an egghead too you know." Joey retorted.

_"I know you are, but you're not insufferable and I can _stand_ you."_ There was a beat of silence. _"Got to go, see you later._"

"Bye." Joey replied and the other line hung up. He put his cell in his pocket and headed back into the classroom just as the bell rung.

He hoped his call hadn't interrupted anything important.

* * *

><p>Hawkeye just put his cell away when he noticed the look Stark was still giving him. "What?"<p>

"Insufferable egghead?" he repeated crossing his arms.

"Well that's what you are." Hawkeye retorted cheekily, though he was glad to get any distraction from this boring meeting, even if they were still trying to track leads. He though had his own leads to who might have killed his old trainer.

What Joey had told him had unsettled him greatly. The dead ends he had to his brother being alive even more so.

Before there was any more talk, the hologram in the center of the table lit up and Phil Coulson appeared. "Hello everyone." He said flatly.

"Hi Phil!" Hawkeye replied cheekily and waved mockingly at him. The only thing missing was Joey laughing at the gesture.

Phil stared at him distastefully, probably reminded of the two hundred or so teenagers he had to help manage as a vice principal for a cover job. Apparently the mutant rate in schools had increased and he had been sent to several schools to keep tabs on certain individuals to assess their threat level before the X-Men tried to recruit them, or at the worst the Brotherhood.

"I have recently been transferred to Domino High and I have already detected very high class and powerful mutant-or what is believed to be a mutant, with the detector I was given." Phil continued.

Hawkeye looked up sharply, his expression turning grave, though his visage wasn't singled out since everyone else looked worried too. Powerful mutants were more of a risk because they were more likely to have trouble controlling their powers, but he had another reason to be worried.

_'Don't say Joey Wheeler, don't say Joey Wheeler, don't say-'_

"The mutant boy's name is Joey Wheeler."

_'Damn it!'_

"I have seen the videos of the lights flickering and then computers acting strange whenever he shows emotion, and while he has a high intelligence, that doesn't appear to be a mutant ability." Phil explained.

"Wait, you said 'maybe' a mutant, is there reason to believe he maybe something else?" Pym questioned, and Hawkeye straightened up.

"Yes, the detector I have has given off strange readings that do not indicate mutant activity for the most part, and I have speculated that the boy has _several_ abilities he may not be aware of or are dormant; thus cancelling out the normalcy of the mutant gene." Agent Coulson explained.

_'I have found it strange that Joey seems to have more powers than the normal one or two.'_ Hawkeye thought frowning in thought. Joey seemed to be a mutant, but he was something else?

The interest in Joey was getting too high now, he had to make his move to adopt him soon, or even try and he didn't think his pseudo-guardianship was going to hold up much. It had to be more official than just it being word of mouth.

Coulson looked off to the side for a moment and his eyes narrowed. "There's has just been activity moments ago picked up from Stark's cell phone."

Hawkeye sunk into his seat._ 'Oh no.'_

"What? But I've got my cell, unless someone got their hands on one of my old ones…" Stark trailed off and gave the archer a look. "You took the box of old gadgets and equipment I was going to throw away home, one of which was a cell phone I hadn't bothered to cancel the plan on," he said somewhat flatly, "now how did you get the phone to work?"

"I didn't." Hawkeye replied shortly as he tried no to feel unsettled by their stares.

"Who were you talking to on the phone just now?" Natasha asked him.

Hawkeye was _very_ reluctant to answer the question, but he knew they would pester him until he gave the name up. "It was Joey."

"As in the mutant boy?" Janet asked in disbelief.

Hawkeye glared at her. "Don't call him that."

"And why exactly are you in communication with him?" Phil questioned going into agent mode.

"Because I'm his guardian." Hawkeye retorted. "Sort of guardian anyway, nothing official as of yet." He didn't know why he was saying this, it was just going to put a nail in his plans to keep Joey _away_ from all this. It was like…it was like…The man's eyes narrowed slightly. If _was_ rather strange he was saying things suddenly that he had _no_ intention of telling the rest of the team, so why was he saying it now?

At least no one knew about the side ordeal he had instigated.

"I will have to check the rules about you being able to remain the boy's guardian." Phil said sternly.

"What? He's a lot happier with me than he's been with his so-called parents! There's _no way_ you're sending him back to _either_ of them!" Hawkeye shouted glaring at the hologram.

"There's still legal issues, Hawkeye." Coulson retorted calmly. "If you want to be the boy's parent I suggest you hurry up about it."


	11. Casting A Shadow

A/N: I make no profit from this nor do I own any of the characters.

_Flasback/Dreams_

_'Thoughts'_

_"Speaking over the phone"_

"Speaking"

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 10: Casting A Shadow<strong>

Joey walked morosely down the hall to the counselling office. He really did not want to go there, but as he neared, more thoughts ran through his head. If Clint was taking care of it, why _should_ he go? That thought stopped him as he mulled it over.

Yeah, Clint had taken care of it, and he-hopefully-would never have to see Sofen _ever_ again.

Joey turned on his heel as he walked away, deciding that today he'd might as well go check out his 'new property.'

"Hi Joey!"

The blond paused for a moment as he looked back at the red-haired girl. "Hi Andrea."

The girl walked over to him. "You doing anything?"

Joey raised a brow at the straightforwardness. "As a matter of fact, I am."

Andrea looked slightly disappointed. "Oh, I see." Then she smiled. "Well, I'll see you class tomorrow then."

"Yeah, see ya." Joey replied walking away. He took the bus halfway and walked the rest. The walk was gratifying for some reason, though he figured it helped release the stress he'd been feeling and had been smart enough to keep from spilling to Sofen.

All the things he'd told that woman were not of real consequence and twist it as she might; he knew that she knew it too.

Joey saw that the yellow tape had been taken off and walked up the to the door, feeling around the top of the door frame for the spare key before remembering that the police might _not_ have bothered to lock it. He turned the knob and opened the door, looking around as he walked in.

Just like with his 'new room,' being in the house felt weird, pinpricks of guilt stabbing into him. They were dead, and he was alive. In both instances, _he_ should have died too, yet he was still alive. And including all the incidents with his old man that had landed him in the hospital, he should have been dead a long time ago.

So why he was he still breathing? Not surprisingly, he could never come up with a concrete answer, as it was always constantly changing from one thing to the next.

He'd always ended up getting sick before he got his answer.

Joey walked around the structure absent-mindedly and found himself in the old man's room. His eyes caught sight of a book on the night stand and he furrowed his brows. He opened it up, the slight guilt being replaced with surprise as he found it was full of names, some he recognized as high status people in New York. Others he didn't know.

Joey wondered briefly why on earth Buck would have left something so important out. He knew this book was important, he just didn't know _why_ yet. The more he read though, it told him this book was blackmail material, as some of the things written by names and dates were some pretty incriminating or incredibly humiliating things that he was sure no one wanted anyone to see.

Joey solidified his thoughts that the old guy had probably gotten dirt on everyone who mattered in Manhattan. When he turned to the next page, his eyes zeroed in on one particular name and had anyone been around, they would have laughed at his almost comically shocked expression.

"What the hell!"

* * *

><p>By the time 4 o'clock rolled around, Karla's cool mask was about ready to crack. Wheeler had skipped out on their session. Either he was getting smart or he just thought he didn't <em>need<em> sessions.

While most of the snot-nosed brats thought she was a quack, she really did have a degree in psychology and she could see how damaged Joey was. Ever since she'd first seen him back in freshman year, he'd always looked so miserable. Every time he'd smile, it'd never reach his eyes.

She also knew Wheeler was exceptionally smart. This was why she was sure he always evaded ever having to take sessions with her, and the only reason he was doing it now was because of his own choice, and not because the principal had made him go.

He was trying to find out what _her_ game was.

Karla was sure she'd just found a very enjoyable challenge. It would be taxing and half the time she really _did_ feel like killing him, it would all be worth it to finally break him into a million pieces. 'How' she broke him varied in ideas though.

Not a minute after she'd returned home was there a knock at the door and she answered it to only see the police captain himself standing there. Though her thoughts were anything but pleasant, Karla put on a polite smile. "Captain Stacy, to what do I owe this visit too?"

The Captain's face was carefully blank. "Miss Sofen, I'm going to ask you to step outside please."

Sofen's thoughts all centered around the conversation she'd had with Wheeler the previous day and what she was going to do to him when she got a hold of the blond for 'tattling.'

* * *

><p>When Clint returned home, the smell of cooking meat his nose and he grinned slightly. "So kiddo, what's for dinner tonight?"<p>

Joey looked up from the pan he was watching and gave him a rather frosty look. "I already ate, but here's yours." He said moving away and handed him a plate of pancakes. "Breakfast for dinner, enjoy." He snarked before pulling out another plate and putting what looked like a steak on it, and turned off the stove.

"You mean this is it? No bacon or anything?" Clint asked incredulously. "And you get that?"

Joey rolled his eyes. "Did you not hear me? I said I already ate, this is for Cheshire."

Clint blinked. _"Who_?"

Joey let out a high whistle and the sound of feet came pounding in and a small-ish brown dog came running in, tailing wagging before it growled at the other blond. "Yeah, he's been growlin' at everyone on the way home and baring his teeth, so I call him Cheshire." Joey explained chuckling as he set the plate down in front of the dog. "I think he likes me for some reason, since I'm the only person he never growled at."

"Steak, the dog gets steak?" Clint questioned blankly. "Why do I get this?"

Joey gave him another look as he pulled the black book from the counter top and opened it to a page he'd marked and pointed at the name on it. "_This_ is why."

Clint stared at the name and grew steadily paler. "Where did you get this?" he asked, barely managing to keep his voice even.

"I found it on Buck's nightstand when I went to the house, and there's more than just _you're_ name in here, _Hawkeye_." Joey said icily, and then his face grew morose. "I'm not mad at you, well, not _specifically_ anyway since I'm trying to convey my emotions without actually showing any-but that's not the point. The point is that you didn't trust me enough to tell me this."

"I could say the same about you." Clint snapped.

"That was a low blow." Joey muttered. "I _had_ a reason not to tell you about the abuse, I was _scared_ you'd never believe me-just like everybody else I tried to tell." He spat. "But it's not like I _needed_ to tell you anyway, figured it out pretty quickly on your own."

"Then the same thing could be said for that book telling you who I am." Clint said nodding at said object. "Though hear me out at least; I never told you because I was trying to protect you, and I guess you could say that I wasn't using my head when I made the decision. I just didn't want you to have to worry about me, since well, it's _my_ job to do the worrying."

Joey smirked a little. "I guess I have no right to be angry at you for this, you were just doing what you thought was right. I thought it was wrong though, mind you." He added.

"Yeah." Clint jerked his head in the dog's direction. "Now what about that. Where did you find it?" The dog growled. "Grr yourself." He retorted.

Joey's smirk widened. "Well, here's what happened…"

_Joey walked home, or, 'home' as in the place he _wanted_ to be, and the book he'd took felt heavy in his pocket. He tried to project his irritation without having to actually _feel _it. It would have been too inconvenient if everything 'blew up' all the times he got upset. _

_So faking his emotions would have to be the next best thing until he could fully control his real emotions. _

_Joey stopped as he heard yipping from behind the bush he was walking by and looked over it to see a small-ish dog lying on the ground and its feet tangled up in thin rope. He walked over to it and the dog looked up at him, looking like it wanted to bark, but didn't._

_Joey stared back before he carefully knelt down in front of it and began gently taking the rope off its feet and tossed the rope into a garbage bin nearby and the dog yipped again, tail wagging. He couldn't help smiling as he picked up the dog and it began licking his face. _

_"Yuck, dog germs stop that!" he laughed and scratched the dog behind the ears. _

_Like it could understand him, the dog did stop._

_Joey's smile widened as he put the dog back down and began walking away. He could hear the patter of small paws trailing after him and he looked down to see the dog following him. "Shoo, go home." The dog tilted its head as if confused, but continued on following Joey, baring its teeth at anyone who got too close to him. _

_Finally, Joey exasperatedly, yet feeling endeared by the dog, picked it back up. "Fine. You can come home with me, but if someone tries to claim you, you're going home with them, got it?" The dog licked his face again. Joey rolled his eyes. "Now, what should I call you…" he trailed off and thought about the people the dog at growled at. "I know, I'll call you 'Cheshire' because you seem to like baring you're teeth a lot."_

_The dog yipped again._

"…and that's what happened." Joey finished calmly.

"And that's what happened." Clint echoed in disbelief and when he looked over at the dog eating the steak, _steak_, it growled at him briefly before going back to its meal. "You are going to give it back to its owners when they claim it, right?"

"Yeah." Joey replied. "And it's 'if' not 'when.'" He pointed out.

"I know what I said." Clint retorted and began eating his dinner, feeling silly that he was envious of a dog getting a better meal than him. "And while we're being honest with each other, I should probably tell you whose threatened to hunt you down-not that I'm going to let that happen."

"You mean that 'Barney' guy?" Joey asked.

"Yeah, he's…he's my big brother." Clint replied.

Joey stared at the older man. "Your brother is going to kill us?" he shook his head.

"To be fair, I did say I thought the guy was supposed to be dead." Clint retorted. "I've been trying to track him down, but so far I got nothing."

"I could give it a try." Joey offered. "Don't know how well my Know-It-All power would be at tracking, or my other power that lets me be in someone's head."

"You mean telepathy?" Clint asked in amusement.

Joey shook his head. "I know what telepathy is, it's the thoughts you send out and you get, this _wasn't_ telepathy. Well, it's like a _cross_ between it and…something else. When I went into Buck's head, I felt everything _he_ was feeling and thinking like it was happening to me." He shuddered. "He only noticed me when I started to think too, so if I try and find your brother like that maybe…"

"No." Clint said firmly. "If you have any leads I could follow, it would be terrific. But I _don't_ want you to go inside his head, if he finds out you can go inside his head I don't want to think about what he may show you or what you'll _see_."

Joey sighed. "Fine, I won't go inside his head." He swore. "But how am I going to practice this "oneness" ability of mine then? I doubt you'd like me sniffing around in your head."

"You could try the dog." Clint suggested sardonically.

Cheshire growled at him again.

* * *

><p>Serenity looked through the box in the attic with an expression of mild boredom on her face. While she had been allowed to let Joey come to her party, she had never told her brother <em>how<em> she managed it. She had to clean up the attic and throw away anything that was old or broken.

Still, this was worth it if Joey could come into the house without being glared at.

Her eyes caught sight of two papers and saw her name on one and Joey's on the other. She blinked at how their first and middle names went well with each other, but frowned at the fact the mother entry on Joey's birth certificate was blank, and how the father entry on hers was blank.

A terrible thought entered her mind, but it would likely explain why her mom seemed to hate Joey so much.

Her mom wasn't _Joey's_ mom or their dad wasn't _his_ dad. Either way, something was up.


	12. Valour

A/N: I make no profit from this nor do I own any of the characters.

_Flasback/Dreams_

_'Thoughts'_

_"Speaking over the phone"_

"Speaking"

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 11: Valour<strong>

Serenity walked into the living room and saw her mom watching her show. "Mom?"

The older woman looked up. "Yes Serenity?"

"Why is the mother spot on Joey's birth certificate blank?" Serenity asked bluntly.

Her mother looked at her, the glowing outline around her appearing in a yellow-green color. "You are not allowed to go back into the attic, do you understand?"

"Yes mom." Serenity replied and just looking at the aura color with a growing sense of nausea and was about to go back to her room when the doorbell rang. "I'll get it." She muttered and went over to the door.

The door opened to reveal a bald man in a wheel chair, a red-haired woman, a blond woman, and a brown-haired man wearing red shaded sunglasses. She noticed the blond woman was standing a bit away from the other three. "Um, yes?" she asked confused.

"Hello miss, we would like to speak with you and your parents." The bald man replied. "May we come in?"

"Who are you though?" Serenity questioned politely and felt he looked familiar.

"All will be explained in just a moment." The bald man replied.

Serenity paused and nodded. "Fine, come in." she said moving out of the way as the three came in, the red-haired woman pushing the bald man in. "Mom, um…" she trailed off and looked over at the four people. "I don't know you're names." She said as they came into the living room.

"My apologies, I am Charles Xavier." The bald man said and the name suddenly struck a cord in Serenity's memory. "My associates, Jean Grey, Scott Summers, and…Emma Frost."

Serenity blinked. "You're the X-Men!" she said suddenly. "Um, most of you." She said and gave a slight glance to the blond woman.

"You mean the mutant group?" Her mother questioned as she turned the television off. "What brings you here?"

Serenity was all too aware of the fact that her mother had two main emotional settings. The disinterested and angry disposition she had toward her brother and the polite disposition she had towards everyone else. She knew her mom was a nice enough person; she just didn't like her ex-husband or her 'son' very much.

"Mrs. Wheeler, we are under the impression that your daughter is a mutant." Xavier said calmly.

The brunette woman frowned slightly. "But, how can that be possible? My Serenity can't be a mutant, she would have showed some powers by now if she was, wouldn't she?"

"Actually, he's right." Serenity admitted bashfully. "I _do_ have powers; I can…_see_ the emotions people have…somehow. They appear in colors around the person." She explained. She had read up on the emotional coloring and had deduced that the colors _were_ the emotions the people were seeing.

And seeing the dark purple that symbolised the gloom Joey felt made her feel uncomfortable; especially since the purple glow was _always_ surrounded him, him and Clint, who had perpetual shades of dark red mixed in.

"Oh. I see." Her mother said, her face going blank for a second. "This is…uh…shocking?" It came out more of a confused question than a statement.

Serenity cringed a little. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I didn't know how you'd react, and with, uh…" '_About Joey being a mutant too.'_

"You are aware of another mutant's identity?" The blond said in a calm British lit.

Serenity looked at her in surprise. "You can read my mind?" she sounded more mystified than shocked.

"Yes, I am a very powerful telepath." A small amount of pride made its way into Emma's voice.

"As I am." Xavier added. "Please, forgive me for prying, but elaborate who this 'Joey' is."

Serenity watched the lines around her mother's face tighten. "He's a mutant too? How can the _both_ of you be mutants, you're not-" she broke off and looked away.

_'Related_.' Serenity finished the sentence with some resignation. "Joey's my older brother-" '_Or at least my step-brother apparently'_-"and he told me that he found out he was a mutant. He never told me _when_ he got his powers though."

"I see." Xavier said thoughtfully, and the fact he had not detected any mutant activity in the last few or so years was perplexing. Was this boy able to avoid being detected, or was it something else? "Do you by any chance happen to have his address?"

The mother's face tightened. "No, I don't know where he lives." She said in a strained voice, like she was _trying_ to force herself to care. "But Serenity is _not_ joining your institution."

"Mom!" Serenity exclaimed. "I have no _idea_ about how I could control my power or what it could turn into, I _need_ help." She suddenly looked anxious. "But, would it be possible to postpone my move and let me think it over first?" she questioned and looked over at the calendar. "At least until after the 20th?"

Her mother sighed. "I suppose there's no changing your mind about this, very well." She said in a placating tone and looked over at the bald man. "What is this school of yours like?"

* * *

><p><em>Was the cell really necessary? She was already in cuffs. Couldn't the police be a bit more courteous and let her sit in a room. Better that than this dingy, grimy cell anyway. Not that it mattered much either way though, she thought fingering the stone impeded in her ring, she was getting out of here one way or the other.<em>

_Then she'd get her revenge on that uppity little brat that couldn't keep his mouth shut._

"…ey, Joey!"

The blond blinked as he rubbed his forehead. "Yeah?"

"What happened? You just sorta spaced out there." Clint replied.

"'M fine." Joey reassured him. "Just…uh, had a 'flash' of something." He frowned in thought. "It was like last time, I _felt_ like I was actually there, in someone else's head, even if it was just for a second."

"I thought you said it only happened the last time because you were thinking about…" Clint frowned as well. "Who were you thinking about?"

The teen bit his lip. "I was thinking about…if you got the Sofen situation taken care of." He confessed. "I don't know since I never went to her 'session' earlier."

"What did you see?" Clint asked and wondered if he _should_ have just handled the situation instead.

"I saw her in jail, but, she was thinking about how she was gonna get revenge on me for not keeping my mouth shut." Joey shuddered.

"She could have been thinking about someone else; after all, it's not like you're the only one who would probably draw attention to this." Clint replied logically. "And how could she _know_ it was you anyway?"

"I…supposed you're right." Joey relented reluctantly and shook his head again. "I…I need to take a walk and clear my head."

"Take that dog with you, I don't want it making a mess on my floor." Clint said as said dog growled at him. "Oh, and that drop this book off at the bank, I want you to put it in my security deposit box." He said taking out his bank card and a key. "And you can shop for some new clothes, go over a hundred and fifty and I'll know." He warned.

For a brief moment, Joey smiled, if only slightly. "Sure, come on boy." He said as he stood, walked over to the closet by the door and put on his coat, the dog yipping as he sprinted over. "I'll be back in a little while." He added as they both left the house, Joey closing the door behind him.

They walked down the street and just walked down to the bank. It was a forty minute walk, but seeing as how he'd walked farther distance, forty minutes was nothing. Cheshire also seemed to be holding up just fine, despite the dog's small stature.

They arrived at the bank, but the security guard stopped him and said that there were no dogs allowed. Joey took Cheshire back out and looked sternly at the dog, hoping it really was intelligent enough o understand him. "Stay." He said warningly. The dog's ear flatted back and whined, but sat down on its haunches. "Good boy, and don't worry, I'll be right out." He said before heading back into the bank and got in line behind a man and saw at the front of the line was an old lady.

Joey's eyes drifted around the building and he thought about the strange fact he'd never stepped foot into a bank before. He just never had any reason to come into one and if there was one thing his old man had safe guarded, it was his money, well, whatever money he _had_. It was also the reason Joey had kept the money he had made from babysitting at Clint's house to _avoid_ having it taken away.

He was broken out of his thoughts as the line had moved on without him noticing and he was called up by the woman teller behind the counter. "Hello, I'd like to drop something off in a security deposit box please." He said handing the woman the bank card and showed her the key.

The card was scanned and the woman nodded. "Very well, follow me." She said and gestured for him to come behind the counter.

Joey walked over and was lead into the back where all the deposit boxes were and the teller took one out. "Thank you." He said graciously and unlocked it. He took the book out of his coat pocket and opened up the box to put it in, ignoring everything else that was in the box. He closed the box, locked it, and put it back into the slot it was in, when he heard noise out in the main lobby and someone shout, "Everyone down on the ground!" Followed by two blasting sounds, though Joey noted that they didn't sound like gunshots.

Joey cautiously walked over to the end of the deposit room and looked out into the lobby to see a man wearing a rather ridiculous brown and yellow quilt patterned outfit and mask, two gauntlets on his wrists. He saw the two security guards lying on the ground, though they seemed to still be breathing.

Joey saw that the man looked more preoccupied with stealing the money out of the vault than noticing him, so he took the advantage from his spot to take his cell out of his pocket and dialed 911, moving away from the exit.

He noted the static it had and realized that something must be jamming it before concentrating on just making it _go through_ the static and heard the ringing on the other line.

_"911 what's your emergency?"_ The person on the other end of the line asked.

"Yeah, I'm in the middle of a bank robbery by some costumed guy at the First Bank Of New York in the Domino District." Joey relayed.

"_Dispatch is en route_." The person said.

"Good." Joey said in relief.

"Oh really?" Joey flinched as he was grabbed from behind and the phone was taken from him. The masked man made an annoyed sound. "And here I thought this jamming device was supposed to _block_ all transmissions." He muttered and threw the phone at the wall, the device breaking on impact.

"Was that really necessary?" Joey hissed, thinking about how long it took him to get the cell to work in the first place.

He felt the arm tighten around his neck. "Quiet you." There were faint sirens in the distance and the masked man let out a growl. "Damn it." He hissed and let go of Joey before he picked up the bags of money and headed for the door. He got sent flying back in through the doors and landed on his back. "Not you again!"

There was a light, feminine laugh sounding in the air before a relatively short figure swung into the bank and placed one red leg, blue detailed on the foot like a ballet slipper, on the masked man's chest. "Yup, me again." The clearly female superhero said as she stuck her hand out and grinned. "You didn't learn your lesson from the last time, did you? Or did you just wanna see me again, Shocky." Her grin widened.

"Bite me!" 'Shocky' snapped before raising his gauntlets and fired, sending the woman flying back and landed on the floor.

Joey saw the woman shake her head of messy hair, ending at her shoulder blades, before rising to her feet, her grin long gone and set into a grim line. The rest of her costume was rather showy; one sleeve was blue and one was red, both detailed in black web lines racing down the arms to the thumb, and both sleeves ended on the middle of all her fingers.

Her shoulders were bare, and at the center of her chest was a spider design, spanning from the logo were black web lines and in each spots were blue and red alternating patterns, going horizontally across were three more black web lines. Her mask just covered her eyes and stretched around her head, two blank, large jack o'lantern eyes looking out and the rest of the mask was red, detailed in black spider crack lines. And around her neck was the same red and blue alternation in a diamond pattern.

Joey was not a pervert, nor did he ogle women, mostly because he was pretty sure there was something wrong with him in the 'how to act around girls' department, but he did _appreciate_ women, and his admiration for this masked woman was no different. Only his face felt hot as he looked at her and he wondered briefly if he might be ill or running a fever.

As 'Shocky' was about to blast the woman, Joey concentrated on the gauntlets and willed them to _not-work_ and they sparked as they were fired, going up in smoke. _'Okay, not exactly what I'd wanted, but it'll do_.' He thought and the masked spider-themed girl punched 'Shocky' and sent him flying back before she jumped at him and webbed him up with goo that came from…her fingertips? _'The hell_?' Joey thought amazed and watched the girl let webbing fly from her fingers and swung off. _'Wow_.'

* * *

><p><em>"Are you sure you're okay to go to school today?" Clint questioned as Joey put on his school uniform jacket and then his winter coat.<em>

_Joey felt a sense of joy at the concern his pseudo-guardian was giving him, but mostly he felt annoyed. "Yes Clint, I don't like missing school, and I my internship starts today." He said and knelt down to Cheshire's height. "Sorry boy, but you gotta stay here." The dog whined. "Now listen, be good for Clint and don't growl when he feeds you-you can go back to that later when I get back." The dog yipped as if agreeing and unnoticed to Joey, Clint's eye ticked in annoyance._

_"Anyone call to claim that dog yet?" he asked with some irritation._

_Joey chuckled as he stood back up as the dog growled at Clint. "No, not yet." He replied with a slight smile. He headed toward the door but stopped when Clint called to him. "Yeah?"_

_"Did you buy the clothes yesterday?" he asked._

_Joey paused at this and knew Clint was aware of the extra time Joey had spent out. "Yes, I bought _clothing_." He said meaningfully. "Have you not noticed my new…maroon shirt?" he asked pointing at his white shirt. "It's underneath." He elaborated and left the house, slinging his pack over his shoulder. _

At the moment, Joey broke out of his reverie as he stared at his friend Yugi. "Hey buddy, you okay?"

Yugi frowned and shook his head. "It's…it's just that, my memory of yesterday's gone again." He whispered.

Joey stared down at his friend and so did the other two. "Again? Do you have any idea about what's causing it?" he asked in a concern that was reserved for family-or rather; _close_ family or family-like ties-and friends. His friend shook his head. "Well, just be glad Sofen's gone, that woman gave all the students the creeps."

"Yeah, it really didn't matter that she was hot if she was crazy." Tristan added.

Joey looked at his oldest friend in surprise. "You thought she was good-looking? Are you damaged?" The irony of that statement being uttered by _him_ of all people is not lost on him, though he _is_ honestly surprised that anyone could find that horrible woman attractive.

"What?" Tristan questioned innocently. "Hey, I mean sure she was crazy, but she was still good-looking." He said defensively.

"Well you've only seen her at a _distance._" Joey retorted. "If you were in the same room with her for a whole hour you'd be changing your tune."

Tristan stared at him. "Geez Joey, when you'd get so…_smart_ all of a sudden?"

Joey froze minutely before grinning dumbly. "I have no idea what you mean, I've never been 'smart' as you say." He said with a thickening accent for emphasis.

"Clearly, Wheeler." A voice said snidely.

Joey tried not to growl and add more fuel to give Kaiba, so he huffed instead. "Whatever Kaiba, why don't you go back to your table and gossip with the other rich idiots with nothing better to do." It was at that moment he realized that Kaiba was to him, what Alexis was to Téa; and that is a pain in the backside.

"It's a miracle; you _can_ do more than bark after all it seems." Kaiba sneered.

Joey had to stop himself from punching the older teen out, but the lights still flickered overhead. "Why don't you _shut up_?" he hissed.

"Joey, he's not worth it." Téa said reasonably as she tried to calm him down.

"Yes, listen to the rest of the pack, Wheeler." Kaiba retorted.

Joey went eerily still before he gathered up his garbage and the bell rung. He stood up and looked up slightly. "I hate you." He said bluntly. "But as much as I _do_ despise you, you're nothing compared to the other two I hate more than you. I don't know why _you_ despise _me_ so much, but I don't care, because you're only _third_ on my black list, and you've wasted enough of _my_ time as it is." He said in a tranquil voice that barely restrained the rage he was feeling and he walked out of the cafeteria, tossing out the garbage in the process.

Joey paused, feeling oddly cathartic, before he kept walking on to his next class.

* * *

><p>"Wow, this place is huge." Joey commented to himself as he stared at the large building in front of him.<p>

"You know, talking to yourself is a sign of mental instability." A feminine voice said lightly.

Joey looked behind him to see a girl walking up the steps, her long brown hair pulled into a ponytail ending at her neck and two locks of hair framing her face. She wore a gray hoodie with black patches at the shoulders and wrists and light blue pants with brown hiking boots. "Oh really? You telling me _you_ wouldn't be able to say something when _you_ saw this building?"

"No, honestly, because I _thought_ it instead." The girl retorted smirking.

Joey huffed as he walked in and held the door open. "You coming in or what?" he asked and the girl walked in as well. "So you a student or something?"

"Or something." The girl replied chuckling. "I'm a science intern, just starting out as a matter of fact." She looked very proud of this.

Joey raised a brow. "Really? Me too, I go to Domino, you?"

"I got to Midtown." The girl replied.

"Hmm, my sister goes to the middle school there." Joey said thoughtfully. "Seeing as we're gonna be working together," he held out his hand, "hi, I'm Joey Wheeler."

The girl shook his hand and looked at him dumbly. "Perenna Parker." She replied and bit her lip. "You said you're last name was Wheeler? Do you happen to know a Serenity Wheeler?"

Joey blinked before tilting his head. "Yeah, she's my sister, how do you know her?"

"She's my friend." Perenna answered shyly. "We met on Shadow Day at my school and hung out last weekend." She looked a little down at that for some reason, but Joey decided not to ask about it and instead focused on another angle.

"My sister went to your school for Shadow huh?" Joey questioned and since _his_ school's Shadow Day was on Monday, he figured his sister probably wasn't gonna _go_ to his school next fall to start high school. "Well…I really have nothing to say to that." He added awkwardly.

Perenna smiled at that. "Your funny." She joked rolling her eyes.

They arrived in the lab to meet a blond man with a missing arm and a redheaded woman by him. "Oh, you must be the interns." The blond man said.

"Are we the only ones our schools recommended?" Joey questioned in some amazement.

"As a matter of fact…eh, yes." The blond man said lamely.

"And that makes this opportunity all the better then." Joey replied smirking.

"Glad you see it that way." The redhead said smiling.

Joey didn't really _know_ who these people were, and the only information he _did_ have was that one of them was Miss Drew's colleagues. So he decided to ambiguously put the notion out there. "It's nice to meet you; Miss Drew talked about you in my science class."

Perenna took the 'bait' as it were instead. "Yes, it's such an honor to meet you, Dr. Connors." She added and held out her hand to the blond man.

Joey saw this though as an opportunity to finally be able to just be himself. Nobody here knew him, and so they wouldn't be aware of how he acted. This was why when he and Perenna were asked if they knew what 'gene splicing' was, Joey launched right into his explanation.

It had earned him several stares, all astonished. Joey shrugged his shoulders as he sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "I like Science."

"Clearly." Dr. Connors said in a daze of sorts before breaking out it and cleared his throats. "Alright then, here's what I want you two to do today…"

* * *

><p>Blair Flannigan opened the door when she heard the doorbell and saw her friend Serenity standing there. "Hi Ren, what's up?"<p>

"Hi Blair, uh, can I talk to you?" The auburn-haired girl asked.

"Um, sure. What is it?" Blair questioned as Serenity walked inside and she shut the door.

"Um, did you ever have to make a choice, which tore between one thing you wanted, and one thing you_ needed_?" Serenity asked as she sat down on the couch.

Blair considered her answer carefully. She could honestly say she didn't _need_ anything_-yet_. Though, she did _want_ one thing and another, but there was absolutely no way it was ever gonna happen. If everything she'd seen on the news was any indication, but yearly checks she and her mom received still made her hold out hope. "No, I can say that I never had to make that type of decision."

"Oh." Serenity replied quietly. "Metaphorically then, what would you do?"

Blair paused in thought and answered the question she had asked herself once before. "I would do what was best for me." She said bluntly. "I'm not saying this because I'm being selfish, I'm saying this because it's _my_ choice, and what's best for me. Everyone else can say that something else is better for me, but it will always be _my_ decision that matters." She said earnestly. _'And what I chose is a stable environment and a loving mother._' She added silently.

Serenity stared at the dark-haired girl for a moment in silent awe. "It almost sounded like you were speaking from experience."

Blair scratched the back of her head nervously. "Uh, right, but you wanted my _metaphorical_ opinion." She said shrugging.

"Hmm, I suppose so." Serenity replied nodding. "So, uh thank you for your input."

"Mind if I ask what you wanted my opinion _on_?" Blair questioned curiously.

"Er, it was about my schooling, and since mom won't let me go see Joey, I…decided to take a third option." Serenity replied smiling sheepishly.

Blair nodded slowly. "Hope that works out for you, I really do mean that."

* * *

><p>"You are an insufferable know it all."<p>

Joey had to keep the grin from creeping over his lips as the 'I know I am, but what are you' come back seemed too childish, even though it was true. Just drop the insufferable part anyway. Instead he settled for, "I know."

Perenna huffed lightly as they walked down the steps of the university. "Are you like a walking encyclopedia or something?" she questioned. "Since you knew things even I didn't and I'm the smartest kid in my school." She added with a pout.

Joey chuckled and he found it felt nice to finally let loose and be himself around people. Even if those places were home and now the university. "I just wanted to make a good impression, that's all. To show that I _earned_ this spot because of , you know…" he said tugging on a lock of his blond hair for emphasis.

Perenna nodded. "I don't really but into that whole 'blondes are dumb' stereotype, I mean, look at Dr. Connors; he's blond and he's a _scientist_. And well, then there's you." She said with a smirk at the end.

For a brief moment, Joey felt optimistic. "You know what? I think we're gonna get along just fine."

* * *

><p>In the night, a burglar alarm in a jewelry store was triggered and two thieves rushed out of the store, bags of the jewelry inside, but as they tried to start their car, they found it wouldn't start.<p>

"I thought you said this piece of junk could make it!" The passenger yelled at the driver.

"It worked on the last job, it'll work now!" The driver shouted back.

The caught the movement on the roof too late, and an arrow shot through the glass of the back seat window, the arrow landing straight into the seat, and just as the thieves had thought the shooter had missed, knock out gas erupted into the car quicker than they could react, and went down for the count.

The figure on the roof shifted from their spot and waited until the police arrived before ducking out of sight.


	13. Whispers In The Dark

A/N: I make no profit from this nor do I own any of the characters.

_Flasback/Dreams_

_'Thoughts'_

_"Speaking over the phone"_

"Speaking"

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 12: Whispers In The Dark<strong>

Joey laid on his stomach on his bed, having grown comfortable enough to call it his own and had the laptop in front of him on the bed, and just finished watching the latest web review of _Obscurus Lupa _and browsed through another episode when there was a knock at his door. "Yeah?"

"Joey, we're leaving." Clint's unusually solemn voice came through the door.

Joey closed the laptop and got off the bed and opened the door. "What do you mean by that?" he asked uncertainly.

"I mean we have to go to the Avenger's Mansion." Clint replied, his face twisting up at that.

Joey's own face wore a grimace. "You mean I _have_ to come with you to your workplace?" he didn't know why, or at least get an answer, but he felt uneasy at the idea; not that it didn't mean knowing his pseudo-guardian is a superhero wasn't the coolest thing ever. "Why?" he saw that there wasn't a reason why this group of heroes wanted to see him.

Clint looked torn between whether or not to tell Joey about the agent in his school before he decided to hell with it. "There's an agent in your school to scout out mutants to see whether or not they'll become a threat before the X-Men find them."

Joey saw where this was going. "So I guess I got found out, huh?"

"Yeah, you did." Clint agreed glibly. "And you should know that I don't want to force you to go, but…"

"I understand." Joey said holding up his hand. "Really, I _do_ understand." He said and walked out of the room. "Let's go then, I have always wanted to see what the place you work in is like."

"And some of the members live in." Clint added and Joey looked at him in surprise. "I don't stay there because I have a life." He added with a smirk.

Joey rolled his eyes and continued walking, Cheshire eventually running up to him, yipping. "Hey boy." He said reaching down and scratching it behind the ears. "Sorry, but you gotta stay here." The dog whined as it's ears flattened against its head. "Don't worry; I'll give you a big breakfast." The dog perked back up as Joey and Clint went by, giving a customary growl at the latter.

"Maybe someone will pick the dog up soon." The older man grumbled.

"Clint, if no one's claimed Cheshire yet, no one's probably going to." Joey tried not to sound _too_ gleeful about this.

"It's only been two days, there's still hope." Clint retorted dryly.

After getting to the car and arrived at the mansion, Joey had looked up at the place with some form of awe. He was actually going into the Mansion where the other Avengers (well, some of them anyway) lived.

They left the car and walked into the mansion, and Joey looked around before he remembered something. "Hey Clint, how's your list of returning things going?"

Clint rolled his eyes. "Don't remind me about that. I've only gotten around to returning a few things what with tracking down leads on Barney."

"How hard can it be to find a dead…guy." Joey trailed off and realized how that sounded. "Huh, I _can_ see how hard it would be to accomplish."

"I still curse Buck's name every time I look at that list." Clint grumbled. "Though I suppose the redeeming thing was the blackmail book."

Joey gave Clint a strange look. "You actually _approve_ of him writing down every dirty secret he could find out about his employers?"

"Hey, at least we now have proof they _have_ dirty little secrets." Clint retorted smugly.

Joey rolled his eyes. _'He does realize that the book outs him as Hawkeye, right?_' he thought to himself, but the answer he got was 'yes' anyway. He moved onto a more pressing question. "Is it true that the house has an animatronic that Tony Stark made controlling everything?"

"Yes, it's called JARVIS." Clint replied. "But how do you know that?"

Joey shrugged. "I read; though I hope you will be pleased to note that you're superhero persona is also my favourite."

The older blond raised a brow. "Really now?"

Joey chuckled. "Yeah, guess I got lucky that my favourite superhero and pseudo-guardian is the same person, huh?"

"Well, I'm working on trying to get the 'pseudo' part dropped." Clint said smirking.

Joey's eyes brightened and while he tried to restrain himself, the lights above them started glowing. "Heheh, whoops." He grinned sheepishly as he scratched his head. "Sorry."

"Don't be." Clint replied and smirked. "Besides, if the lights shorted out it won't cost us a thing."

The younger blond rolled his eyes. "Now what about this whole thing apparently regarding me, do you know what's going on?"

"From what I gathered, you're either a very powerful mutant or something else entirely." Clint said dryly.

Had Joey not lived in a world that was filled with superheroes, villains, mutants, and magic, he would have found the idea disturbing. "I've lived with thinking that I was a mutant and you're saying that I'm actually something else…possibly?" he questioned.

"I just said that didn't I?" Clint retorted.

"Hey, I'm working on owning snark so don't get used to using it." Joey warned smirking.

Clint chuckled and the two walked down the hall and while he was following orders, he did _not_ enjoy bringing Joey here. It wasn't because he didn't think Joey deserved to know where he worked, only that the _reason_ he had to bring the younger blond here left him uneasy. His teammates had seemed too interested in Joey's powers and his relation to Clint.

Joey looked around the room and looked ahead in surprise when they came across a pretty redheaded woman in a black suit and strange yellow braces on her wrists. He recognized her as Black Widow.

"Hey Natasha." Clint said casually.

The name caused a jolt of recognition to go through Joey's mind as he remembered how Callum told him about 'Aunt 'Tasha.' He wondered if this was the woman the child had been referring too. He had never met the woman, and he doubted she knew about him if the way she looked at him was any indication.

"So you are this 'Joey' Clint is going to adopt huh?" she asked with a hint of a Russian accent.

Joey beamed and the lights began glowing again, the redheaded woman giving the lights a cursory glance before brushing it off. "Yup."

"That is going rather unfortunate." The redhead commented. "As I have just come back from a meeting with the others and General Fury is adamant that you _not_ be adopted."

_"What?"_ Clint shouted incredulously. He had been so damn _close_ to getting the paperwork and now _this_ happens? "Oh I'm giving ol' one eye a piece of my mind about this. Joey, go wait in the kitchen, I'll be back soon." He said before storming off.

"So you're 'Aunt 'Tasha' I presume?" Joey questioned after a beat of silence.

The woman stiffened. "What I find startling is that in my years of working with Clint he never mentioned you once." She said offhandedly.

Joey felt a nagging feeling that something was off about this woman, but he couldn't figure out what. He _hoped_ it wasn't that she liked his pseudo-guardian like _that_. His guardian deserved to be happy, sure, but he doubted the man would want a relationship that would pale to the one he'd _already_ had.

"Oh, well, I'm sure he had his reasons." He said shrugging and walked past the woman to the kitchen, using his Know-It-All ability to lead him there.

He never noticed the woman's eyes narrow as she watched him walk away.

* * *

><p>"What right do you have to say who I can and can't adopt!"<p>

That was the first thing the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D heard as his visage appeared in the main room of the Avenger's Mansion, void of everyone save one. "I take it you've heard about my decision regarding the Wheeler boy?" he questioned.

"You're damn right I heard!" Clint snarled. "Give me one damn reason _why_ I can't adopt Joey! One damn reason!"

"The boy still _has_ parents for one." Fury shot back. "And don't think S.H.I.E.L.D doesn't know about the assault on the boy's father that was nearly changed to a murder charge."

"_Unfortunately_ he lived." Clint muttered underneath his breath. "That _man_ hasn't been found yet and his mother made it clear she didn't want him around, so really, there's no place to put him and he should just be allowed to stay with me." _'He already practically lived at my house anyway_.' He thought and mentally patted himself on the back for poking logical holes in the argument.

Fury's expression didn't change. "He will stay _here_, where he can be monitored as letting that boy left unsupervised with how much power he has is gonna make others uneasy."

_"I'm_ teaching him how to control his powers." Clint retorted. "He doesn't _need_ to stay here. And _I'm_ sure that the others _here_ won't like knowing they have to play babysitter."

"My decision is final Barton; the Wheeler boy _will_ remain here, whether you will be allowed to adopt the boy will be decided when we are sure you are not going to flee." Fury said before cutting the transmission.

Clint slammed his fist down on the console. He derisively thought that if S.H.I.E.L.D had such up to date intelligence that why didn't they _know_ about the abuse Joey suffered the second he was discovered to be a mutant. But then again, it honestly wouldn't surprise him if they _did_ know and were willing to just turn a blind eye to it.

He was suddenly starting to think he _should_ have just screwed the rules and taken Joey with him after his-_their_-family was murdered. And now he had to go tell his _almost_ son that the best home life he'd had for several days was being cut short.

* * *

><p><em>"What?" Joey questioned as he stared at the older blond from the seat he was sitting at from the island in the kitchen.<em>

_Clint kept his face carefully blank. "You have been ordered to stay here." He replied. "The Director said you are too powerful to be left unmonitored."_

_"Screw what he says!" Joey retorted sharply. "I want to go _home_. Isn't there _something_ you can do?"_

_The mask faded just enough to allow the older man to look truly regretful. "There isn't. And believe me, as much as I _want_ to take you back home, the backlash will be much worse and at least if you stay here, _we_ can still see each other every day."_

_Joey paused at that, a smirk starting to form on his face. "Yeah, I guess that's true." His face twisted up though into a scowl. "But don't expect me to _like_ staying here."_

_"I don't expect you too."_

Joey stared up at the ceiling of his new, _new_ room. And while it didn't hold a painful reminder of one of his younger 'brothers,' _this_ one felt more like a furnished prison cell. His eyes turned to glance out at the setting sun out the window and while he had been told he _could_ leave, he was sure no one trusted him to go anywhere but to school.

And with what Clint told him about a S.H.I.E.L.D agent being undercover in his school made him think trying to leave the school was also a bad idea, but the fact going to the university was his only 'safe zone' seemed a little sad. His home was supposed to be his safe zone and considering the fact his first two homes he stayed in with his old man had been rather horrible, his second one had been terrific…until the _incident_ had happened.

Then crushing despair had gotten to him. He was _still_ trying to deal with it, but he didn't dare claim he was more torn up about the _incident_ than Clint was. They were the man's family first after all.

The blond heard Cheshire snort in his sleep as the dog lay curled up to Joey's side. He'd noticed that the dog looked a bit wary about being in the building, but it had made him think that Cheshire also didn't like being in this place.

_"I have been informed from the main chef that dinner is now being served in the dining hall._" The computerized voice of JARVIS said.

Joey's eyes narrowed, and even though he _did_ feel hungry, he was _not_ going to face _everyone else_ that lived in the mansion. "No thanks, I'm not hungry."

_"My scanners indicate that you are in need of sustenance."_ JARVIS replied.

Joey grimaced. "I'll just eat later; right now I want to be alone."

_"Very well._"

Joey frowned before sitting up and logging back onto _his_ laptop and was about to search through more of his favorite internet web show episodes when he felt a nagging at the back of his mind and he heard Cheshire whine in his sleep. He absently petted the dog's head and as Cheshire calmed down, the nagging in his mind faded.

His vision also started to fade as his eyes slowly closed; images and feelings that were not his own were starting to synchronize into his own mind.

_He felt a little strange. _

_That was the first feeling that came to mind as he tried to figure out what was going on and why everything suddenly seemed larger. He was outside and he was moving; those were clues at least. He felt a lingering stinging around his neck and briefly wondered why that was before he tripped on the rope around his feet…paws?_

_When Clint had said to try his 'oneness' ability on the dog he'd assumed the man had been kidding. He didn't know it would actually work! _

_Before he could see the scene where he finally came in, he felt another presence begin pushing him out._

Joey blinked as he sat up and rubbed his forehead, looking back down at the now awake Cheshire, who almost seemed to be scowling at him. "Hey, don't look at me like that; it's not like I can control whose mind I can go into."

The dog barked and nudged his side.

Joey patted the dog on the head before using his Know-It-All ability to find out the time and was surprised to learn he'd been asleep for little over two hours. It was only strange since he couldn't remember the _other_ hours of just sleeping; either that or he'd been inside Cheshire's head longer than he thought.

The blond got off the bed and headed toward the door. "Come one boy, time to go eat."

The dog yipped and scampered after him as they made their way down to the kitchen area, deserted of all other people. He reached into the freezer and pulled out a pallet of pork chops and after letting it defrost in the microwave, he set up the stove and got the pan out.

While he didn't like this place, he'd admit that it certainly did have nice kitchen.

* * *

><p>Karla walked down the driveway to the house, a passive expression on her face. She'd broken out of the jail cell she'd been put in and now it was time to get her revenge on a certain brat. She knew this wasn't Joey's actual address, but it <em>was<em> his sister's and from what she had gotten out of the boy spoke volumes about just how much he cared about her.

She had never been forced before to use the powers she was given by the stone in her ring, but revenge seemed like an optimal choice. While she thought herself to be too far above petty revenge in most cases, this was different. Maybe it was because it was just…_something_ about the boy that got under her skin; the fact he had talked stood out most in her mind.

Well, after she got done with him, he'd never be talking _ever_ again.


	14. Greater Need Than Mine

A/N: I make no profit from this nor do I own any of the characters.

_Flasback/Dreams_

_'Thoughts'_

_"Speaking over the phone"_

"Speaking"

**Warning: Gore and disturbing content later on, but please note that the previous chapters alluded to what's to come and it _is_ supposed to be as disturbing as it sounds.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 13: Greater Need Than Mine<strong>

Joey walked out of the Mansion gates and down the street to the bus stop. Yet another to dislike about the prison he was in was that he now had to waste his money to get to school. He would have walked if he didn't know that it would make him late. He'd kept Cheshire in his 'room' and made sure to make enough food for him so that he didn't starve until he got back.

He wasn't so stupid to believe that no one would try and stop him if he tried to leave, despite the assurance that he wasn't a prisoner. He didn't like that place on principle since he just viewed it as another obstacle, just like the 'home' he'd had with his 'father.'

Joey leaned back in his seat as he took out the cell phone he'd fixed up from it being broken on the floor from the botched bank robbery and checked the time. 8:35 a.m. In just another 15 minutes and he'd be at the school. He also remembered that he needed to go to the store and pick up the locket he'd ordered to be put on layaway while he scrunched up enough money from any odd jobs he'd taken in the last year to pay for it.

His sister's birthday party was in just a few days, and she was worth it. It brought a sense of sadness to mind though that he didn't have enough to pay for the operation that could let her keep her sight; sure, it had a fifty-fifty chance of working, but his sister was worth it.

Joey narrowed his eyes in thought as he went over ideas in his mind about what jobs were open to teenagers this late in the year. All the summer jobs were over since it was the winter, but _since_ it was winter, it also opened up another set of jobs that could pay well. Well enough considering it'd probably be minimum wage after all.

When he got off the bus, he walked the rest of the way, luckily it only being just a block away from the school. He sprinted to save time and dodged several people. He cut through and alley and almost ran out when he felt something hit him in the back of the head and he went down. He groaned and rubbed his head, his vision blurring from disorientation and felt something was off as he didn't feel any swelling or blood from the hit.

He heard footsteps and stood wobbly to his feet when he looked behind him to see someone he hoped he'd never have to see again. "Sofen!" he spat as he glared at her.

"Hello Joey." Sofen said giving him a smile that chilled Joey's blood.

"What are you doing here?" Joey questioned as he tried to subtly back away, but Sofen noticed.

"I wouldn't think of running if I were you." She said and held up a cell phone. She opened it to show him a picture of…

"You better not have hurt her!" Joey snarled as he looked at the picture of his bound and unconscious sister, his 'mother' and who he presumed was his sister's friend.

"I have not done anything except send them all to dreamland." Sofen replied icily. "What happens next though depends entirely on you."

Joey felt a sinking feeling in his stomach form. "What do you want?" he asked warily.

"What do you think? You opened you mouth and ruined the best opportunity I had to test my psychiatric limits." Sofen shrugged. "So what if a few brats get sent to the nuthouse for it." She glared at him. "But you, you had to make his all more difficult than it had to be." She growled before smiling again in that eerie way. "You're a smart boy, I'm sure you can _guess_ what I want."

Joey did guess what she wanted. "Revenge." He said hoarsely.

"Bingo." Sofen chimed in. "Now you can come along quietly, and I'll even let your family go," he expression darkened, "or you can make this is even more difficult on you and _they_ can take your punishment."

Joey flinched back. Sure, he didn't care one way or another about what happened to his mother, but Serenity still needed her, and he was sure that her friend was just an innocent bystander that got caught up in this. He didn't have to think twice about his reply. "I'll come quietly."

* * *

><p>Jessica stared at the clock, a feeling of trepidation going through her. Joey hadn't showed up for class, and unless something was wrong, he <em>always<em> showed up, even _when_ he was sick. Especially if he knows he shouldn't. She'd had her reserves about teaching after all she'd done in her life most of which she was not proud of, but Joey had quickly become her favorite student.

There was just a jaded look in his eyes that reminded her too much of herself and it worried her to see that look in someone so young. She'd been impressed though when he revealed to her that he was actually almost 13 when he'd started high school, all his friends just being coincidentally older than him.

And while the boy had acted like the typical high schoolers, she'd started to notice slowly that he also _didn't_ act like the typical high schooler on paper. His demeanour was that of a stereotypical 'dumb blond' type around others, but one the tests and homework, he'd gotten every answer _right_.

Jessica had naturally assumed that someone who _acted_ like he led her to believe had cheated, so she'd asked him to take a make-up test to see if he still past. He did.

It was then that her perception of him began to change. She started noticing that he looked _at_ her, not at her body when she was giving a lesson, but for whatever reason, he still played dumb when she called on him to answer a question. She knew he was smart, all the teachers he had that she talked too agreed on that, but they were just as confused as her with _why_ Joey kept his intelligence a secret.

But in a way, it was similar to how she acted when she put on her mask. She was the cool, sisterly teacher, and then became the collected, level-headed Spider-Woman. But she'd _always_ been distant and had those traits drilled into her when she worked for HYDRA.

So it worried her about which parts of Joey was the 'real' person. The blond delinquent or the diligent student?

Either way, she would wait out and try and ask one of his other teachers if they'd seen him before jumping to any conclusions.

* * *

><p>Joey didn't speak for the duration of the 'trip' nor could he see past the blindfold that Sofen had made him put on before tying his hands behind his back and shoving him into some sort of vehicle. Though by the fact he felt a rather comfortable material at his back and his feet were settled on the ground that he was in a car. One with tinted windows probably if no one was seeing him blindfolded in the backseat.<p>

Or, the more cynical part of him protested, no one _cared_ enough to try and help him.

Joey had known better than to try and escape since he took the threat against his sister _very_ seriously and he wouldn't risk her getting hurt because Sofen hated _him_. He was prepared to take whatever she threw at him, and again the darker part of him pointed out that Sofen more than likely was going to kill him.

The blond teen was also counting on his absence from school to be noted and there being a team sent out to 'retrieve' him, probably going to Clint first thinking that he'd let Joey back into his home, and if Joey was right, his pseudo-guardian would cause just enough of a ruckus to be allowed to search for him as well.

This was of course the reason he'd been keeping quiet instead of being panicky. His plan was all based on chance, but at best his sister would be safe, and at worst he would be dead.

In his disturbing morbid thoughts, he wondered if him being dead would be such a _bad_ thing before remembering the few people he'd let past his shell that actually cared about him.

He mentally revised his plan so that the worst outcome was that he would end up being severely injured instead of dead. At least if he was severely injured there would be time to say goodbye.

* * *

><p>Andrea looked around the hall way with a frown. Joey hadn't been to class, and she'd really wanted to talk to him. She noticed one of his friends, Yugi something and decided to see if he knew where Joey was. So approaching slowly, she asked, "Have you seen Joey?"<p>

His friend looked up at her in surprise. "No, I haven't see him." he said shaking his head. "Why, wasn't he in class?"

Andrea shook her own head. "No."

Yugi frowned. "That's odd; he never misses class unless something comes up."

"I know." Andrea replied absently and froze minutely, but it seemed like Yugi didn't notice her slip as he nodded along with an also absent-minded look on his face.

"Something isn't right, last time he didn't show up he…" Yugi trailed off and his frown deepened, before shaking his head of whatever thoughts had entered his mind. "Anyway," he said with a too bright smile, "nice meeting yo-ow!" he flinched when he tried to shake her hand, only to pull back when his hand burned upon touching hers.

Andrea gained a nervous expression on her face before saying a quick 'You too' before walking briskly to her next class.

* * *

><p>Joey felt the car slow to a stop and heard the front car door open before shutting and felt the breeze hit him in the face as Sofen opened the door to the backseat and dragged him out with surprising ease. He made sure not to resist. There was an odd opening sound, like the one from a garage door, and it told him that they were probably at a warehouse of some sort.<p>

The door was pulled down after him and he felt the blindfold being ripped off and it took his vision a moment to adjust to the darkened room and immediately tried to look for any hair of sister. "Where is my sister?"

"Right down here." Sofen replied with an unsettling smile and again dragged him further into the building.

Joey continued to keep a look out and he eventually caught sight of his wide-awake sister, while her friend was actually still unconscious, and his mother was also awake, and glaring at him. "Serenity, are you okay?"

His sister looked physically fine, but one could never be too careful. After all, he'd managed to fool people for four years and counting with nothing but sunglasses and sick note excuses. "S-sure." She said shakily, but his mother just glared harder at him.

"You, _you're_ the cause of this." She spat.

"Nice to see you too, mom." Joey said sarcastically.

"Don't call me that." His mother muttered and Serenity cringed.

Joey looked at Sofen, his eyes glaring into hers. "I came, now let them go, Sofen."

Sofen smiled darkly. "No, I don't think I will, you see, I can't have them bringing the police here." She explained and began dragging Joey further into the base.

Joey tried to use his feet to put up some friction so he wouldn't go so easy and he struggled with his binds. "You said you would!" he snapped.

Sofen's smile widened. "I lied."

Joey felt the rage and hate in him build up and he focused that to burn up the bindings on his wrists. He pulled them in front of him and let of a burst of fire right in front of Sofen's face, causing the woman to scream and grab at her face. Joey kicked her back into a room and closed the door, while grabbing a plank of wood to keep the door jammed. He ran back to where his sister and the others were and pretended to untie them while carefully burning the rope off his sister's hands.

"Are you sure you're alright?" he asked and his sister nodded again, even though she still looked somewhat shaky.

Joey turned to her friend and gave her a reassuring smile. "You're safe now, okay?"

The dark-haired girl stared at him and a red flush came over her face and Joey briefly checked her temperature before burning the ropes off and then turned to his mother. He didn't say a word to the woman and she didn't lessen her glare at all.

"Go." He said and helped his sister up before her friend grabbed a hold of her hand to steady her. He heard the door being hit and ushered them more urgently. "Go."

The door flew off its hinges just as Serenity, her mother, and her friend all got out, but Joey felt something collide with his side and he swore he heard something crack. He lay on his side as he saw Sofen stalking toward him, her face burning red and scowling at him.

Outside, Serenity took out her cell phone, having been unable to use it before as her hands were tied. She quickly dialed 911. "Hello, police, you have to get to the warehouse district, my mother and I, and my friend Blair were kidnapped." She rushed out. "Our brother is still inside with the kidnapper." She paused and answered the question asked next. "He was the one she wanted, and the only thing he called her was 'Sofen.''

There was a tense moment before Serenity let out a sigh and said a polite thank you. "The police are coming." She said to her mother and Blair before looking worriedly. _'Joey, please come out.'_

Back inside, Joey felt himself get picked up by his shirt and thrown into the wall. He bit back a scream as his ribs ached painfully and he was sure that if nothing was broken before, then they were _now_. He let out a scream as one of his arms was stomped on and he heard another crack.

Joey channeled his hate again and he felt his eyes glow as he set fire to Sofen's trench coat to give him enough time to stand and putting some pressure on his ribs, he wobbled over to the exit, only to get shot down to the floor when he felt something his him in the back. He looked up to see the blond woman's hand glowing and he grimaced. "The hell?"

Sofen smiled darkly again. "Don't you want to know how I got out of jail?" she asked chillingly as she planted a foot onto his back. "My ring is _very_ special and thanks to you I've found a certain use for these powers."

"'Powers'?" Joey repeated weakly.

"Well, it's not like you'll be alive for much longer, but yes, the stone in my ring enhanced my speed, strength and stamina. It also lets me shoot lasers and turn intangible."

"So that's how you got out." Joey muttered and grimaced as Sofen dug her foot deeper into his back.

"Yes." She confirmed before she lifted her foot and knelt down, lowering one de-powered hand to cup his face. "You're such a pretty boy." She murmured before lowering her face closer to his.

Joey turned his head away and while he had already suspected this about her, and that she was trying to _kiss_ him disturbed him to no end. He saw in the corner of his eye that the hand resting on his cheek also had the power stone on it. One of his hands was pinned under his body and if he tried to take the stone, she'd seen it, and if he tried to set her fire again, she'd break something else.

There really _was_ only one way to distract her. Feeling a wave of self-disgust settle inside him, Joey turned his head back to her, where her face was now inches from his. He resisted the urge to gag as the woman closed the distance and his hand quickly wrapped around the ring before she lashed out and kicked him in the side.

Joey felt something in his mouth and to his horror he saw that he spat out blood. His horror changed to triumph as he saw the ring clutched in his palm and he smirked over his shoulder at her.

Sofen looked at her finger and her surprise turned to rage as her hands went right for his throat and Joey spat the building in his mouth at her and she recoiled in disgust, wiping the blood away just as Joey sat straight up and head butted her with enough for to send her onto her back. Joey lifted himself off the floor and his legs wobbled as he tried to walk to the exit.

Joey's vision began to blur and his head was started to feel funny. And his chest was also starting to constrict; he felt the blood on his forehead run down the bridge of his nose and the blood leaking out of his mouth. He coughed up more of the red liquid before falling to his knees and his vision went completely dark as his head hit the pavement.

* * *

><p>Serenity stared at the door to where Joey was being operated on, from what she'd heard snippets of was that her brother-even if they <em>weren't<em> related he was still her brother-was lucky to even _be_ alive still. Her mother was waiting impatiently to leave, not once sparing a glance to the door where Joey was being treated.

Blair was sitting with an older woman who looked very little like Blair, but she still had the dark hair. It would have been awkward had Blair not told her that the woman was her _aunt_, but the woman adopted her because her real mother couldn't take care of her. Blair had refused to tell her who her father was though. The dark-haired girl was leaning against her mom's side as the older woman soothing petted her hair.

"I think it's time we go." Serenity looked at her mother in disbelief.

"What, but what about Joey?" she asked.

"He's like a cold, you can try, but you can't rid of him very easily." Her mother said dismissively.

"I wonder if you'd be nicer to him if he _was_ your son." Serenity muttered, but her mother still heard her.

"We will have words, young lady, now say goodbye to your friend. We're _leaving_." Her mother said crisply and walked over to the sliding doors and crossed her arms.

Serenity walked over to Blair and gave her a tight hug. "See you." She murmured.

"See you." Blair returned the hug before her friend left with her mother and she looked up at her own mom. "Is dad coming?"

"Who do you think insisted that you stay for observation to make sure you were fine?" Claire Flannigan questioned wryly.

Blair grimaced as she leaned back against her maternal aunt's side. "I'm fine. It's Serenity I'm worried about." She murmured. "I don't think she'll be fine until she sees that her brother is fine after that nut job kidnapped us."

"Well you know how your father is, and he really _is_ making more of an effort _to_ be your father than he did before." Claire pointed out.

Blair nodded slightly, but she was frowning. "That only started to happen _after_ his accident. At least with mom she called at least once a week from jail or wherever she is."

"And knowing my sister, I can be expecting a very angry phone call from her after she sees the news, wherever she is." Claire added absently.

Blair also nodded absently as she wondered if her mother had again broken out of one of the prisons for supervillains or if she was on the run again. Since there was nothing containing her in the news, she was going with the former.

She sent a look toward the operating room just as she heard the door open and looked up to see her father walking toward them. "Hi dad."

* * *

><p>"I'm going to kill that bitch." Was the first thing Clint said as Joey was moved from the hospital to the medical wing in the Avenger's mansion. He'd think the last time he saw Joey lying half-dead could have lessened seeing him wrapped in bandages around his ribs, around his forehead, and his arm set in a cast. It was <em>too<em> much like seeing him the last time after he set his apartment building on fire.

The fact Joey had yet to wake up yet also made his anger rise. Oh, he wasn't angry at Joey, not at all, he was angry at…_her_. _I warned the cops that if they didn't handle this then I would._' Clint thought darkly.

"You shouldn't be in here." One of the medical staff said sternly.

Clint glared, but the personnel refused to cow. "Alright, alright, but he better be taken care of." He warned and turned to leave when he saw his teammate Black Widow standing there. "How long have you been listening?"

"Long enough." Natasha replied.

"Don't try and stop me." Clint retorted as he left, but before he could go far, Natasha stepped in front of him.

"You can't go out and kill this woman." She said.

"Why not, we've both been killing people for S.H.I.E.L.D _long _before being placed on this team." Clint retorted crossing his arms. "And I clearly told the pol…" he trailed off as he realized what he was about to say, but managed to stop himself. "This woman hurt Joey and nearly ended up killing him. She has to be dealt with." He said coldly.

"She _is_ being dealt with." Natasha returned coolly. "She is currently serving out a prison sentence in the Vault for kidnapping and attempted murder." She smirked sardonically. "Stark was rather insisted with Fury that Sofen be put there."

Clint narrowed his eyes and after thinking it over for a moment, realized that Joey waking up was more important to him than Sofen dying. At the moment, anyway. He nodded after a beat of silence. "Fine, I won't kill her." He grumbled and his teammate let him pass and he headed back to Joey's room.

He opened the door and Cheshire barked happily before it turned into a growl as the dog saw it was _not_ Joey coming into the room. "Yeah, yeah, I know you don't like me, or anyone but Joey really." He shrugged nonchalantly. "Joey's going to be out of commission for a bit, as he's currently lying in a bed unconscious."

Cheshire seemed to understand him as the dog froze and ran out of the room between Clint's legs and down the hall to where the medical ward was. The dog was almost there when he was scooped back up and growled up at the older blond and tried to bite him, only to get flicked on the nose.

"Hey, behave or I lock you in Joey's room and I won't let you see him." Clint felt rather stupid for talking to a dog like it could understand him, but the responses the dog had made him either believe that Cheshire was _very_ well-trained, or…

Cheshire barked impatiently and Clint rolled his eyes before walking closer to the room and let the dog look in to see the unconscious Joey lying on a bed with an I.V in one arm and a breathing mask over his nose and mouth, and a blanket covering him up to the chest, the monitor that he was connected to beeping slowly to match his heartbeat.

The dog let out a low moaning sound and Clint realized with a start that it sounded _sad_. He would assume he was going crazy, if he wasn't already there to begin with, but then again, weirder things _have_ happened. An eerily intelligent dog just got added to the list; that was all.

Speaking of which… _'Why has no one come to collect this dog yet_?' Clint thought before walking away.

Cheshire growled at him again, but he was unfazed. "Listen you; we can't do anything right but wait for Joey to get better." Clint said dryly. "So I guess we're stuck with each other until he does."

The dog's growl turned into a yowl that made the blond feel vaguely offended.

* * *

><p>Jessica Drew looked out at the empty classroom and she was feeling increasing worried about Joey, but her thoughts were interrupted by a knock to the door and Serenity walked in. "Hello."<p>

The girl smiled. "Hello, um, I've come for Joey's homework, if that's alright."

Jessica nodded. "Where's is Joey?"

Serenity grimaced. "He got hurt very badly, he's going to be out of school for a while he recovers." She explained vaguely.

While it didn't alleviate _all_ of Jessica's worries, it _did_ alleviate some of them; specifically on if Joey was still alive. "Wait right here for a minute then." She said leaving the room and the girl sat down on the chair of one of the front row desk like the first time she'd arrived at the school.

Her thoughts went back to her brother as after hearing from Clint, the man told her that Joey had already been transferred to the Avenger's mansion, her brother's current residence. She'd wanted to ask _why_ he was staying there, but she didn't really want to _know_ the answer.

It also helped her decide what to do about her own situation. If she had a better understanding of her abilities, then maybe she could have _stopped_ that woman from kidnapping them, or at least gave them time to escape.

Yes, she had thought about this for a while and had finally come to a decision. She was going to the mutant school.

* * *

><p>AN: The scene between Joey and Sofen was as disturbing as it seemed, and I'm sure you can see that Joey has now effectively been turned into the 'Chew Toy' as his life gets more and more screwed up, and _him_ by extension.

I know treating him like this is harsh, but this is to make him stand apart from Spider-Girl and Superwoman, even though there _all_ damaged in some way, this is also the reason it's taking him so long to make his 'official' debut.


	15. Changing Paces

A/N: I make no profit from this nor do I own any of the characters.

_Flasback/Dreams_

_'Thoughts'_

_"Speaking over the phone"_

"Speaking"

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 14: Changing Paces<strong>

Joey awoke with a headache and wondered why his head hurt before the memory of what had happened came rushing to the forefront of his mind. He groaned as he gingerly touched his ribs and was surprised and pleased to find that they only ached a little bit, and his arm that was encased in a cast.

Well, that sucked. He hadn't gotten his arm broken since he was 12, and even then it was a pain to deal with.

He found that his free arm had an I.V in it and thought that it was the reason for him barely feeling anything but aches, it was the morphine in his system that was taking the pain away.

Joey felt the breathing mask on his face keep breathing for him and he tried in vain to pull it off his mouth and nose. He let it casted arm fall gently to his side before thinking about how to alert someone that he was awake when he thought of how Clint must have reacted to him getting hurt.

_'I'm sorry, Clint.'_

Down in the dining room for lunch, Clint was morosely eating his meal when he froze. "Did…did anybody hear something?" he questioned looking around as the sentence echoed in his mind.

Janet looked around too. "No, what did you hear?"

"I thought I heard…" Clint trailed off before shaking his head. _'It was probably nothing._'

Back upstairs, Joey's eyes widened in surprise as he found his mind was now mixed in with Clint's thoughts and found the man was eating lunch. _'You're not hearing things Clint; it's really me, Joey. I'm awake.'_

_'Joey?'_ Was the disbelieving response.

_'Yeah, now before you come running upstairs, bring me that leftover sandwich on your plate, I'm starving.'_ Joey thought cheekily as he stopped thinking about his pseudo-guardian and found himself alone in his own thought again. _'Hmm, this power never worked like this before.'_ He thought to himself about how he had to concentrate rather than just think about a person to be 'in sync' with them and see their thoughts and feel their feelings.

He heard the rushing footsteps and soon he saw Clint running into the room, his hand surprising empty of a sandwich. "You…you're awake." He said disbelievingly.

Joey rolled his eyes and nodded. "I already told you that." He said. "Now get this mask off me, and where's my sandwich?"

That seemed to snap Clint out of whatever daze he'd been in and rushed to Joey's side, sliding the breathing mask off the teen's face. "No sandwich, you just woke up. The doctors said that if you ever woke up you had to eat 'soft items' only to help get you used to food."

"Wait, 'if?'" Joey questioned frowning.

"I told them that you'd wake up, but they said it was better to assume that 'if' was the best option to keep it distant." Clint replied dourly.

Joey's frown deepened. "How long have I been out?"

Now Clint looked a little apprehensive. "A little over a week"

_"WHAT?_"

The lights in the room exploded as did the ones in the hallway, and the monitoring machine that Joey was hooked up to short-circuited.

Clint looked at the glass that fell just short of the bed and the glass littering the floor of the hall. "That's never happened before." He observed, worry creeping into his voice.

Joey also looked out worriedly at the mess he'd caused. "Yeah, usually the lights just flicker or something. And at worst before they'd only cause the power to go out, not _explode_." He explained.

Clint walked around the mess. "I'll get someone to clean that up, so until you're allowed to move around, I'll go get your homework." He said before leaving.

Despite how most kids felt about homework, Joey welcomed it as it gave him something to do.

* * *

><p>It didn't take long for the glass to get cleaned up, but the doctors were puzzled about his sudden lack of control over his powers when Joey revealed to them, but a theory was offered that since Joey had head butted Sofen hard enough to draw blood that any control he gained was shot to hell.<p>

Joey found this irritating, but tried _really_ hard not to let it show, even though the lights were already gone. When he'd asked about being able to clean up, there had been surprisingly little protest to this with the only condition that Joey walked off the morphine before attempting to take a shower. He'd agreed, since it knew that his legs were gonna be practically jelly and after getting the I.V out of his hand, and bandaged up, he got up off the bed and felt his legs wobble before using the wall to help steady himself.

Joey grabbed the stack of papers that was his homework and held them under his casted arm; he used his free hand to carefully make his way out of the room and down the hall to the elevator since he aware that any attempts to use the stair would be disastrous.

The process of moving took longer than he cared to admit, as did the tests the medical personnel put him through.

Joey felt his ribs ache in protest as he lifted his free arm to punch in what he thought was the ground floor to get himself some pudding, and if Clint knew him at all, the man would have bought chocolate pudding cups for his 'stay' here, though now it looked like he was going to be here longer than he cared for.

When the elevator stopped, Joey walked out of it, his expression suddenly turning to confusion as he looked around the darkly glowing green hall way and walked down along it before the door in front of him slid open to reveal a well lit room and felt his ingrained anger at being forced to stay in this place fade somewhat as he looked around the pristine lab in awe.

_'This place has even better equipment than ESU_.' At the thought of his internship, Joey winced and hoped that being in a week long coma let it slid about why he wasn't around. He kept looking around as he steadily wobbled into the room, using the surface of a table for balance.

Joey sat down in a chair as he found the ring that Sofen said had given the woman her powers in a jar under a microscope. He looked in through the microscope and looked at the stone and frowned at the fact it seemed to be emitting some kind of its own dim light and wondered if that was how the powers it gave off were accessible.

The door slid open, so Joey didn't jump when someone said, "How did you get down here?"

Joey looked up from the microscope and he had to beat down his surprise at who he saw. "You're Henry Pym, creator of Pym Particles." He said as a grudging sort of awe creeped into his voice as he saw the uniform the man was wearing with the lab coat on top. "And apparently you're Giant/Ant-Man." He added blankly before rolling his eyes upward. "What's next, Tony Stark is Iron Man?"

Had he not turned away, he would have seen Pym look at him strangely before shaking his head. "What are you doing down here?" he repeated.

"Well, when I pressed 'ground floor' on the elevator I had assumed that I would have been the ground floor of the mansion, not ground as in underground." Joey explained before pointing at the stone under the microscope. "This is the stone Sofen was using." It wasn't a statement so much as a fact.

"That is correct; I've been examining it after the medical personnel pulled the ring out of your hand when they were cleaning you up." Pym replied and Joey grimaced. "I've been trying to find out how it was able to work and what it could do…"

"You don't have to worry about that." Joey replied. "Sofen was rather confident that she was going to kill me that she told me what it did." He explained. "She said she could go intangible, shoot lasers, and her strength, stamina, and speed were all increased." He listed off dryly. "I'm just never gonna know I guess if it turned her into a pedo or if she was already like that." He muttered.

Pym looked at Joey sharply, but glanced down at the stone under the microscope with a new sense of wariness. "Shouldn't you be still resting?"

Joey shook himself out of his depressing mood as he looked down into the reflective surface of the table, his expression growing melancholic. "Nah, I just woke up and…" he trailed off and he never noticed that instead of the lighting reacting to his mood that a canister began to levitate off the table. "Well, my legs need to solidify from their wobbly state anyway." He added more strongly as he looked away from the surface of the table and the canister fell back against the table. Joey looked down at it strangely. "Uh, did you want that?"

"What?" Pym shook his head. "Oh, no, it's just…you just…" he trailed off in confusion. "Is one of your powers telekinesis?"

Joey furrowed his brow. "Not that I'm aware of, but since any control I've had over my powers has been shot to hell, then this really shouldn't be surprising."

"Right." Pym replied faintly as he looked from the canister and back to Joey. "Though since technology reacts to your mood; I'd recommend trying to keep your emotions in check."

"You and about everyone else has told me that." Joey retorted dryly, the offence he would have felt having long since faded.

Now though it would seem that he had to _really_ be careful around technology.

* * *

><p>Joey ate the pudding cup and continued working on his homework after having left the underground lab after talking more sciency stuff with Pym and made his way (rightfully this time) to the kitchen. He was sort of glad that it was his right hand that got broken instead of his writing hand, but as he paused and stared into the shiny reflection of himself in the wooden surface of the table, he wished he could go on his computer to do some cross-checking for the research his History teacher had assigned for him.<p>

Joey noticed something floating into the room and was surprised to see that it was his laptop and it landed gently down on the table. _'Did I do that?_' he thought and the answer he got was 'yes.' He furrowed his brow and thought about the canister that had floated without him even thinking about it, but then he also remembered staring at his reflection in the table.

He needed to talk to someone about this, and while this could help him learn more about his own powers, he also needed to _relearn_ how to control them. He stared morosely down at his cast arm, hoping that this wouldn't affect his aim. He didn't take pride in a lot of things, but he did take pride in being an excellent shot.

He carefully opened up the laptop with both hands and turned the device on, and he took the time to evaluate his physical status; his forehead was wrapped up, his arm was in a cast, his ribs were-he lifted up his shirt to see the bandages-covered up, and he touched his throat, a grimace forming in his face, there were still some bruising from Sofen trying to strangle him.

In all honesty he was wondering how he could have survived since he was pretty sure he the internal bleeding should have killed him, if not bleeding out from his wounds.

'_How did I survive?_' he thought and the answer he got was 'resilience.' '_Well that doesn't really help_.' He added as the computer finished booting up and he immediately began to look up the track of music he'd bought and put on a singer that was a guilty pleasure. He nodded lightly to the music as he continued to work on his Math homework sheets.

He didn't hear the steps or see his pseudo-guardian come into the room and stare at him, then at the computer. "Is that Ke$ha?"

Joey flinched, and he winced as his ribs protested the sudden movement and pressed the pause button. "Uh, so…" he saw the disheveled state his almost-guardian was in. "What the heck happened to you?"

Clint shrugged, wincing slightly as he rubbed his shoulder. "Oh, nothing really." He answered lightly before muttering, "For a guy that just woke up he sure can move."

Joey stared at him strangely before turning back to his homework. "I think there's some ice in the freezer you can use."

Clint nodded as he took the package out and put it on his shoulder, shivering at the contact before sighing. "That's better." He said and after letting the ice rest on his shoulder for a few moments, he put it back in the freezer. "What? It's not like I opened it." He said seeing Joey's disapproving stare.

The younger blond rolled his eyes as he looked back down at the equation and write in an answer. "Where's Cheshire?"

"The dog's in your room, and don't worry, I've been feeding the animal regularly." Clint replied. "Don't know why since it keeps trying to bite me half the time when I wouldn't let it see you." He huffed.

Joey chuckled and cringed as he felt his throat ache. "I guess I should be lucky that this all that happened to me." He muttered.

The older blond looked at him. "Do you…wanna talk about it?"

Joey knew Clint wasn't the type to talk about things, but he was the exception to that. The fact was though; he really didn't feel like talking about it, he'd talk when he felt ready, as the fight was still fresh in his mind. But there was one thing he wasn't adverse to talking about. "Clint, my internship at ESU, no one here knows about that, right?"

Clint nodded. "Yeah, but don't worry; I called up and explained that you had been in an 'accident' and wasn't able to go in, and I told the school the same thing."

Joey felt relieved, but also terrified. "Serenity's party, I missed it." He muttered.

"I think she'd forgive you because of what happened." Clint said surely.

Joey shook his head. "No, you don't understand, I saved up all the money I had for a gift for her; and now it's probably gone." He said as he ran his left hand through his hair and the lights shut down in the room.

Clint looked around to see that the rest of the mansion still had power before putting a hand on Joey shoulder. "Don't worry, there's still Christmas, right?"

Joey felt his lips curve into a smile as the lights came back on. "Yeah, you're right, there's still Christmas."

"And," Clint looked uneasy now, "things happen that are out of our control, and we shouldn't blame ourselves for it."

Joey knew how much it must have hurt to say that, so he just kept smiling. "I know, but…it still sucks."

"That it does, kid." Clint agreed nodding. "But, you should really try and take it easy; this homework will still be here."

Joey sighed. "But this is how I cope with things, I work. You should know that." It was a cheap shot, and he knew it.

The hand tightened on his shoulder just a bit, but loosened the next. "I…I _do_ know that, and I also know just how consuming it is to fill that void with work instead of dealing with it."

Joey thought about it, and acknowledged that the man was right. "Alright, I'll take a break, but only if you promise to when you get off work."

Clint nodded. "Maybe we can watch a movie or something."

For the first time, Joey felt content to just hear that. "I'd like that."

The lights above them were glaringly bright now, and even though they both had to squint to see each other, neither of them minded it.


	16. Catharsis

_Flasback/Dreams_

_'Thoughts'_

_"Speaking over the phone"_

"Speaking"

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 15: Catharsis<strong>

"I don't know about this…" Clint said as his expression unusually nervous.

"I'll be fine, really." Joey assured the man as he waved his free arm, the bruising on his neck nothing but faint yellow marks and the broken ribs reportedly healed enough that Joey's in no danger of re-breaking them unless he does something stupid. The cast is the only real indication that anything's still wrong with him, well, that and the bandage covering his head under the floppy cap he's currently wearing.

Clint's expression hardened as he looked over at Janet. "You'd better not make him do anything strenuous, the doctors were clear on that." He warned her.

The socialite waved it off, not knowing that the older blond man could be so protective. "He'll be fine, we're gonna have so much fun though. It's not every day that a guy will _willingly_ go out shopping."

Joey's breezy expression became somewhat fixed at that. He was still trying to avoid calling it that and rather keep the outing as a 'need more clothes' only thing. But Janet had volunteered to go with him as the woman apparently liked making clothes as much as she liked buying them. "And if that's not enough," he whistled and Cheshire came scampering into the room, tailing wagging as he stopped at Joey's feet, "Cheshire here is going to come with us."

"I feel so assured." Clint deadpanned as he looked skeptically down at the dog, who growled up at him, the creature having gone back to its habit of growling at him now that Joey was up and about.

Joey chuckled as he picked up the dog with one hand and held him against his chest. "You should." He said reassuringly.

"Aw, he's so cute-" Janet cooed, only to draw back in surprise as Cheshire growled at her this time. "And…defensive."

"Don't take it personally, he does that to everyone." Joey replied.

"But not you?" Janet asked as she furrowed her brow.

Joey smirked as the light glowed overhead. "Of course not." Both Avengers froze and looked like they'd seen a ghost, causing Joey to frown and the lights to go back to their normal setting. "Is…something wrong?"

Clint snapped out of it first and he shook his head. "No, nothing's wrong. Just…be careful."

"Aren't I always?" Joey quipped.

Clint stared him dryly. "If you were, you wouldn't be in this mess."

Joey huffed as he and Janet headed out to the waiting limo, the chauffeur holding the door open, Cheshire giving an almost mandatory growl, though unlike with most, the man actually freezes. "Don't worry man, he's like that with everyone." He said before getting in.

He looked around the limo and felt oddly out of place and once again wondered if it was because this was simply another thing to keep track of him on. He knew he couldn't leave the premise alone, and while most of the staff and personnel had argued it was for medical reasons, he suspected that only Clint's objections had been of genuine concern for his well-being.

Joey shook his head as he looked down at the dog licking his face. "Stop that." He admonished and the dog stopped like it was told.

Janet watched, at the other end as she didn't want to get bitten or snapped at. "He's so cute, where'd you get him?"

"Actually, I found him tied in some rope," Joey answered, "Clint said I could keep him if no one claimed him." he smiled without any emotion put into it as he didn't want the car to spontaneously stop at the middle of the street and risk a car accident happening. "And no one's come knocking yet."

* * *

><p>Joey say slumped in his seat at a table from the excursion at the second men's store he and Janet had gone too. They were taking a break as Joey used his still recovering injuries as an excuse to stop the shopping nightmare he regretted coming on.<p>

But he needed knew clothes, and he closed his eyes and heard Cheshire yip and opened them just as a man wearing the casual waiter uniform stopped in front of them and put the milkshake he'd ordered down in front of him, the barista having even gotten the extra form he liked added on top of the ice cream. Clint would have killed him if he'd ever caught him drinking coffee, not that he ever intended to drink the stuff. It just didn't agree with him.

The man was about to leave when he looked down at the dog. "What a charming dog you have there." He said petting the dog on the head.

Joey smiled, but made sure to keep any pride out of it as to not blow anything up. With how his powers were acting since his control became practically non-existence, he wasn't taking any chances. "Thanks, his name's Cheshire."

The man raised a brow in amusement as he looked at him before looking back down at Cheshire. "Is that so?" he asked as the dog seemed to almost…embarrassedly lower its head.

Joey furrowed his brow before brushing it off. "Yup, but I found him, so I don't know what his real name is." He said shrugging.

The man nodded as he looked over the boy's cast and his eye lingered on his forehead before he walked away. Joey looked down to see Cheshire curl around at his feet as Janet walked over with a latte in one hand…and a milkshake in the other? Joey blinked as he looked down at the one sitting in front of him.

"Sorry, but they didn't have strawberry, but I hope you like chocolate…instead." she trailed off as she saw down and saw the milkshake as well. "Where did you get that? They said they were out of that flavor."

Joey shrugged as he looked around for the waiter man, but couldn't find him. He frowned to himself; well that was strange. "The waiter came left it here, I had assumed that this was mine." He replied before shrugging a moment later. "Eh, free milkshake, sweet."

"No, don't touch that." Janet warned smacking his hand away and Joey looked at her sharply. "Some man who's obvious not a waiter leaves you a drink? Even I don't need to be as smart as Henry when I saw that this is suspicious. We leave it here and tell someone." She reasoned.

Joey stared down at the strawberry milkshake and felt some semblance of sadness and the lights dimmed slightly, something Janet noticed as she sighed.

"Fine drink your current one and we'll test that one back at the mansion to make sure there's nothing wrong with it. No accepting things from strangers anymore, even I know that one." She said.

The lights went back to normal as Joey smiled, but it didn't once occur to him that Cheshire hadn't growled once at the not-waiter guy.

* * *

><p>Clint stared at the blond telepath warily, even though she had agreed that she wouldn't read their minds, but he wasn't taking any chances. Especially since this woman was the one Professor X recommended teaching Joey to control his own 'telepathic' ability.<p>

He was already uneasy with how Joey was starting to lose some of his hostility towards being in the mansion. If only for the lab in the underground and he seemed to be willing to tolerate being around what the younger blond considered nothing more than glorified baby-sitters.

He himself was still multi-tasking with several things at once. Finding Barney was still the first priority though; the second was getting the paperwork to gain _legal_ standing as Joey's father.

"Why did they send you?" he asked suspiciously.

The woman seemed not to take offense to his rude tone, or if she did, she hid it rather well behind her posh British lit. "The Professor is helping a new student get catch up on the curriculum. A Miss Serenity Wheeler if I'm not mistaken."

Clint straightened up. Joey' sister was a mutant? Uh, who knew? "Well I'm sure he'll be thrilled to know that he's not the only mutant in his family."

Here Frost smiled somewhat sardonically. "Oh, I guess he doesn't know then."

Clint frowned. "Know what?"

The woman crossed her legs as she stared haughtily at him. "While it's not my place to say, I did hear Miss Wheeler confess that Joey might not have gotten his abilities because of a familial relation."

Clint's frown deepened and his eyes narrowed. What was this woman implying exactly? But then he remembered Mrs. Wheeler's words about how Joey was 'no son of mine' and wondered if she meant that literally. If she did, it certainly would explain a few things.

"I see." He said cautiously. "You've already been given the weekends to help Joey with his mental ability, why did you want to see me?"

Frost smirked at him. "I think we both know that you're the real one I had to have the approval from. You are the boy's father, blood or not." She said logically.

Clint rolled his eyes. "Fine, you have my approval, but I'm watching you, Frost."

* * *

><p>Blair watched her auntmom wince back from the phone, her biological mother having called to make sure she was alright and to yell at her sister for letting her get captured. She watched her mom put down the phone and sit down on the couch beside her. "How angry was she?"

"Very angry." Claire sighed. "But overall she was just happy that it wasn't one of your father's enemies that got a hold of you for revenge."

Blair snorted. "No one knows that I'm his kid. He didn't exactly broadcast it before and he's definitely not going to now." she said. "And besides, if he did it would ruin the quiet life I have with my mom." She said smiling at the older woman.

Claire smiled back at the girl, and even though she saw more of her sister in the teen, she was glad to see none of the faults her father had. It took him a while to actually start _wanting_ to be at least a part of the girl's life, but if Claire was being perfectly honest, she really didn't mind all that much.

Giving her Blair had been the best thing her sister had ever done for her. She even named the girl after her, albeit in was a morphine induced drugged state of mind after the birth, and because she thought the names sounded cute as they had rhymed.

* * *

><p>"When can I go back to school?" Joey questioned in boredom as he looked around the hospital room and rubbed his arm and glared over at the woman across his seat, who was staring back impassively at him. A marginal change from how she usually reacted to his presence anywhere; or maybe she was only agreeing to the blood test and acting nice because Serenity had called her up…or maybe it was the fact Clint was doing some glaring of his own.<p>

The doctor handed the two vials off to an assistant and looked at Clint. "The results will be ready tomorrow."

Clint nodded before gesturing for Joey to follow him. "You can go back to school tomorrow if you'd like, as your more serious injuries are already healed up."

Joey nodded his head and frowned at the woman he'd called mom for most of his life as she walked over to him. "What do you want?" he asked bluntly.

The woman frowned also at him. "This was unnecessary." She said coldly.

"And would you have told me that I wasn't your kid?" Joey snorted. "This was the only way to make sure what Clint said was the truth."

The woman sent Clint a withering glare before looking back at Joey. "Neither you nor Serenity were born under the greatest of pretences." She muttered, but she sounded as though she'd been waiting a long time to say this. "Your father cheated on me because I wanted to have children and he…didn't, so when he dumped a baby in my arms nine months later, I was angry." She explained and both blonds kept quiet. "I didn't care for you because you weren't mine, so when I got my own chance for revenge, I took it."

"By cheating on him back, and then you had Serenity." Joey finished, and for the first time truly understood why this woman had never wanted anything to do with him. That still didn't mean he forgave her though. "Who's my real mom and her real dad then?"

"I don't know who your mother is, but I'm saying who Serenity's father is." The brunette woman said drily before walking past them and out the door.

"Illegitimate," Joey sighed heavily as the lights dimmed to his mood, "of course." He said morosely.

"Well, would you _want_ her to be your mother?" Clint questioned before the lights went back to normal.

"Yeah, you're right." Joey said before scowling, but the lights stayed the same. "But then that means that my old man really is my old man." He growled. "And the worst part is there's a reason for it. I would have been better off not knowing that the only reason he treated me so badly was because I was _born_." His voice stopped being angry and became incredibly depressed.

Clint looked cautiously at the lights before steering Joey toward the door. He didn't know how much longer Joey could fake his feelings before they became real. "Come on, time to go back to the Mansion, I'll even let you 'play' in Pym's lab."

Joey brightened back up significantly and nodded. "Seeing the labs fun and all, but I really want to get back to my bow; don't want to get rusty."

Clint smirked and ruffled Joey's hair, making sure not to steer his hand near the boy's forehead. "You really are my kid."

Joey felt his muscles relax with that easy statement and smiled. He secretly hoped it wouldn't be long before he really _could_ call this man his dad.

* * *

><p>"So how goes the returning the stuff that Buck had stolen?" Joey asked as Clint drove him to school instead of making him take the bus, or at least make sure that Joey actually <em>got<em> to school and avoided another incident like Sofen happening soon.

"Great, already got half the list down, I sent them anonymously because there is no way I'm letting someone know that I had to return half that stuff." Clint replied.

Joey nodded absently. "What about the little black book in your safety deposit box, no one besides the two of us knows it exists, right?"

"Right, I'd be all for releasing it to the media to let the people know who's corrupted, but unfortunately since me and my teammates names are also in it…" Clint trailed off.

"I get it, but why not just rip the pages out?" Joey asked tilting his head.

"Not a good idea, what if someone noticed that there was some of the pages missing? They'd question if the information was reliable or not." Clint replied.

"Maybe not everyone; after all, people are very gullible in this city. Sometimes too gullible." Joey muttered darkly.

Clint looked down at the boy and gently squeezed his shoulder before returning his hand to the wheel. "You're right; people are more likely to believe what they want instead of questioning it." He agreed softly. "But I hope you're able to stay caught up."

Joey grinned, but it felt hollow as he knew he couldn't put any feeling into it. But then again he'd always been good at faking his emotions. "Don't worry; I'm sure I will be. And if not, then I'll be in the class I'm 'supposed' to be in." he said rolling his eyes. "'Sides, long as I can still go into the lab whenever I want, I'll be content in my prison."

"It's not a prison." Clint retorted flatly.

"I'm monitored everywhere I go, even at school, and probably at ESU now, it's a prison." Joey returned frostily.

"Well, you did admit your starting to like the place." Clint pointed out.

"Like Stockholm." Joey said blandly and was pleased to hear the sound of silence at his statement.

"…I'll work on getting you out of there faster." Clint finally said.

Joey nodded and opened up the door when the car arrived at school. "See ya after school." He said closing the door behind him and adjusted the flopped cap on his head to better cover the new bandage wrapped around his forehead, his stack of completed homework under his casted arm. His eyes caught sight of his friends, but before he could call out, a redhead stepped in front of him with a smile.

"It's nice to see you back." Andrea said sincerely.

Joey blinked a few times before nodding. "Certain aspects of the school aside, it's good to be back. I think I would have gone stir crazy if I had to remain out of school much longer."

"One must wonder how you manage to get through the summer." Andrea said dryly.

Joey smiled at that, but his thoughts were anything but happy. He hadn't liked school in the beginning, but he'd seen it as a haven where he didn't have to see his old man for 6 hours every day, and in the summer, well, he'd generally go to summer school until he'd trusted Laura and Clint enough for him to come over for some days of the summer.

"I…manage well enough." Joey said finally.

Andrea just kept smiling as she grabbed a hold of Joey's free hand, her smiling growing brighter. "Well, can I walk with you to class?"

Joey shrugged, seeing nothing wrong with an innocent request like that. "Sure." He said letting himself be led away to the class, but as he cast his chatting friends a look, he'd resolved to catch up with them at lunch time. He wasn't looking forward to buying his lunch though.

When they entered the science classroom, he pulled his hand from Andrea's and went over to Miss Drew. "Here's all the work, dated and completed."

Jessica smiled at the blond as she looked at the small stack. "Well I'm happy to see your up and about," he expression turning a touch more serious, "how are you feeling?"

"Can't complain." Joey replied, though that was more of a lie than not. He _did_ complain about his current residence, mostly to Clint though. He was pretty sure if he ever met the person who'd made him stay in the Avengers Mansion, he was going to pop them in the nose for it.

"Well, I'm just glad you're okay." Jessica replied and Joey smiled back at her before he walked over to his desk at the front of the class. He noticed other students staring at him, but he didn't acknowledge them as when the bell rung, he paid diligent attention to the teacher and her lesson.

It felt good to be back in school.


	17. Playing With Fire

_Flasback/Dreams_

_'Thoughts'_

_"Speaking over the phone"_

"Speaking"

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 16: Playing With Fire<strong>

Joey awkwardly carried the lunch tray in his good hand while using his casted hand to support it as he walked over to the table where his friends were at. He sat down as his saw their inquisitive looks. "What?"

"What's with the hat, and the cast?" Tristan questioned.

Joey pointedly rolled his eyes. "You think I'm wearing these for decoration?"

"It wouldn't be all that surprising Mutt." Another voice said and Joey glared up at Kaiba from under his hat.

"And why don't you go sit in your corner and leave me alone?" he snapped and for a split second the lights flickered, but he controlled his anger. "Or are you still sore about being humiliated in front of the whole cafeteria?" he snarked.

Kaiba matched his glare. "You should learn to know your place like the dog you are."

Joey's face twisted up into a frown. "I happen to _have_ a dog and he acts like more intelligent than _you_." He retorted before gathering up only the sandwich and drink in his hands. "'Scuse me guys, I can't eat in here with the stench of Moneybags contaminating the air." He said coldly before brushing past the brunet and walked out of the door.

Andrea, who was sitting by the door, saw the blond go walking out and after a moment of hesitation, got up and followed him out, Alexis glaring at her back when she left and looked down at her lunch. The redhead found Joey outside and sitting on the fountain side. "Um, can I sit with you?" she asked shyly.

Joey looked up briefly. "Sure, why not?" he said going back to eating his sandwich.

Andrea blushed and sat down next to him and put her lunch bag on her lap and took out an apple, that started to singe and she frowned before taking a bite out of the apple before discreetly tossing it away. She looked down at Joey's arm and cautiously touched the skin, no other reaction did the blond have than to look at her strangely and she brought her arm back.

"Um, how are you?" she asked awkwardly.

The other teen looked at her before he shrugged minutely. "I was…out of it a lot." He replied vaguely, but as he thought it over, it _was_ sort of true. If being in a coma counted as being 'out of it' that is. "But like I said earlier, I'm fine."

"Oh." Andrea replied and fell into silence as she gave Joey another side glance and wondered again why she couldn't burn him when she touched him.

* * *

><p>After school, Joey met up with his friends as they walked out of the building. "Sorry I've been a little distant, it's just that…"<p>

"It's okay Joey." Yugi said holding up a hand. "You don't need to explain things, you were hurt, and you need time to readjust."

Joey blinked at the thoughtfulness of the statement and he found himself smiling slightly. "Thanks Yug'."

"Hey, Joey, ain't that your dad?" Téa said pointing over at a blond man driving up to the school in a beat up car.

Joey squinted his eyes to see the man better and recognized him as such, though he'd always wondered why Clint kept such a junker. He'd said it held sentimental value and he wasn't about to mock him for a car that obviously meant a lot to him.

"What a piece of junk!" Another rich kid by the name of Chazz Princeton shouted derisively and some of the other kids jeered in agreement.

Joey felt a sense of rage start to rise in his chest, but he forced it down as he tried his hardest to remain calm. "Yes, that's him." he said softly before proceeding to walk over to the car and got inside. "Hey Clint."

"Joey." The man replied before putting the car into drive and steering towards the road and back towards the Mansion.

"So…how was your first day back?" Clint began somewhat awkwardly.

"It was…okay." Joey shrugged. "It was sort of irritating to put up with people asking how I was feeling." He said before adding an explanation. "Not that I don't appreciate their concern, but with how I've interacted with people in the past, I can't be exactly sure if it's _genuine._ I mean, I didn't even believe you in the beginning when you saw my black eye and asked if something was wrong."

"And yet you did believe me later on." Clint pointed out. "It took a while, but you _can_ trust people and not get hurt by them. Trust me on that when I say that I know exactly what it feels like."

Joey glanced at the other blond before resting his head gently on the window. "I know." He answered faintly. He really did know as Clint once spoke to him about his own abusive past in order to have a connection with him. It was one of the reason's he'd trusted Clint so much now. "What about getting my powers back under control?"

"We'll be working on your pyro kinesis in the training room." Clint replied.

"Hmm, you mean to say that I'm going to be allowed into a room where I can start essentially blowing stuff up with my mind and no one can say anything about it?" Joey asked as a smirk started to cross his face, but there was no emotion behind it.

Clint smirked back. "That's right."

"Okay, I can't show it without this car stopping in the middle of the road, but I'm excited." Joey deadpanned.

* * *

><p>Blair walked into the Avenger's Mansion and looked around the empty lobby. She was very familiar with the levels of the Mansion as she came here to get the check her dad made out to her mom. He'd always insisted on Blair coming to get the checks herself as this is the closest thing they had to 'father-daughter' time.<p>

She's always known about her mother being a super villain, but she'd never been proud of being related to her father. She'd always known he was her dad, but he'd never known about her until her mother came to actually see her one time, despite knowing she'd sent back to prison.

That was another thing, with the exception of her mom, all the people on her mother's side were super villains, as her aunt had rejected the crime legacy and opted to live a normal life.

And despite her mother being a super villain who was in hiding most of the time or alternatively in jail, Blair liked her mother more for just one simple reason. During her mother's one visit, she'd taken the time to explain that she wanted Blair to have a normal life as well and said she loved her before fleeing.

The explanation had taken off some of Blair's resentment towards her parents, but it was still better than compared to how she felt about her father. She and her mom were doing fine before he found out about her, but she cynically believed he only gave her mom the checks to ease his own guilt about never being there.

Still, it hadn't taken off _much_ of her resentment. She couldn't tell anyone who her biological parents were without being ridiculed for being related to either, and by extension her mom told her how her people reacted when she revealed who her sister and father were.

Blair hadn't even told Serenity because she didn't want her only real friend to be scared off by the fact her mother is Whitney Frost and her father is Tony Stark.

_"Greetings Miss Blair, how are you?"_

Blair looked up at the walls briefly. "Hello JARVIS," she replied politely, "where's my dad?"

_"He is in the upper levels, Miss Blair."_ JARVIS replied.

"Thank you JARVIS." Blair said before going over to the elevator and pressed the up button and heard the low humming of the elevator before it lurched to a stop and she walked out of it. She moved along the side before her attention was taken by glancing down into the training room and stopped at the window.

Down below were two blonds, one that Blair recognized as Serenity's older brother, the one who _saved_ them. He was talking to another blond that, from the looks of things, was probably his dad or at the least his older brother. Then again, Serenity never mentioned having any brother other than Joey, so she'd go with dad.

Blair saw the older blond gesture to the training dummy in the room and Joey nodded once before looking at it and soon an angry hateful expression crossed his face, his eyes aglow and there was a burst of _fire_ in the middle of the room. Joey jumped back and fell to his backside once the fire appeared and the older blond helped him back to his feet as the fire died down.

Blair stared in confusion at where the fire ball had been. Was Joey a mutant? Or got his powers by some accident? She did now that he was meant to hit the dummy, so he must just be learning how to control his power.

"Hey, Blair."

Blair barely glanced back, only to grab the check in his hands. "Dad." She said. "I take it you know that he's the one who saved me, the blond with his dad?"

Stark looked out into the training room. "Clint's not his dad." He said.

"Just like Aunt Claire isn't my mom?" Blair shot back looking at her father. "You could have fooled me if those two weren't father and son." She said jerking her head in the direction of the training room. "They certainly act like it."

"Well, Barton did say he was trying to adopt him, but Fury made it pretty clear that the kid had to stay here." Stark admitted.

Blair felt some sympathy for the blond as she didn't know how _she'd_ take it if she couldn't stay with her mom, but she did know how she'd react if she was taken away from her now. "You might not have known about me," she began darkly as she glared up at her father, "but if you ever try to take me away from my mom, I will make your life a living hell."

"You know, your mother said that exact same thing to my about you." Stark replied. "And watch your language."

Blair snorted at that before glancing back out at the training room. "Still, I know it must be hard for you, but imagine how _he_ must feel, knowing that he can't go home with his dad."

"Barton's not his dad." Stark repeated. "I'm just amazed at how long he'd been able to keep the kid a secret."

"People would do anything to keep the ones they care about safe." Blair replied softly. "Clint must have kept Joey from all of you for the same reason that my mother kept me from _you_; they wanted us to be safe."

"This is a shot at me, isn't it?" Stark questioned. "Look, I know I'm not Father of the Year, but I _do_ care about you, Blair."

"You're right…" Blair began and Stark looked at her, "you're _not_ Father of the Year, and from my vantage point it looks more like Clint should get that title, because he's down there, _helping_ his son."

"Blair, just what are you getting at?" Stark asked suspiciously.

"Joey saved me, and unlike you I know how to repay gratitude." Blair retorted. "You might be a good boss and all to work for, but can't you see just how _happy_ those two are?" she questioned as she gestured to the two blonds in the training room.

"The situation isn't as simple as that." Stark replied. "Joey can't control his powers, and everyone knows about the assault charge Clint has now."

Blair looked back down into the room for a moment. "Did you _ask_ him what it was about?"

"What?"

"I said; did you _ask_ him what it was about?" Blair repeated. "Because I have no problems with trying to help them on my own; it is after the _least_ I can do."

* * *

><p>"Wow, this place is huge." Joey said looking around the training room and saw the dummy rising up from the floor. "So what now?"<p>

"No, you lite that sucker on fire." Clint said gesturing to the dummy with a smirk.

Joey stared at him for a moment before nodding as he looked over at the dummy. His thoughts went down into that dark place where all his hate was and thought about his 'father' and all the abuse he went through. His expression twisted up in hatred and his eyes started to glow before there was a burst of flames right in the middle of the room and the surprise sent Joey onto his backside.

Clint watched the flames die out before helping Joey back to his feet. "That was a good start, but try and set the _dummy_ on fire next time; we don't wanna get blamed for burning this room down, do we?"

"But I thought I _could_ cause destruction in here?" Joey asked frowning.

"You can't, just don't destroy anything that can't be replaced." Clint replied. "Now try again."

Joey nodded before looking through a memory that would cause _less_ of such a violent reaction in his fire power. He thought of Kaiba and all his cutting remarks. Joey's eyes started glowing again and while the dummy was still not set aflame, the burst of fire in the room was noticeably less volatile than the previous one.

"Hmm, not bad, you proved you can _start_ fires, but try pretending the dummy is someone you hate." Clint said.

"You mean just like how it was with my archery training?" Joey questioned and the older man nodded. When Buck had still been alive, he'd tell him to pretend that the target board was someone you hated. At the time he hadn't found the idea so strange as he wasn't _actually_ killing people, but it also made him think later on that Buck must have made Clint think the same thing when the man was training him.

"Yes, just like the training." Clint nodded.

Joey nodded back once before looking at the dummy, his eyes narrowing as instead of a piece of equipment, he saw his 'father' and the dummy lit up like a Christmas tree. "_Yes_." He said calmly as he knew that he couldn't cheer without the lights blowing up.

But that still didn't mean he couldn't smile, even if it _was_ a hollow feeling behind it.

"So what now?" Joey questioned.

"Now, you take a break." Clint said as the fire extinguishers put the flames out. "And tomorrow you have your lesson with Frost."

"Who?" Joey questioned.

"Hmm? Oh right, telepath, gonna help you control your "oneness" ability since it's pretty much an advanced form of telepathy." Clint replied shrugging.

Joey frowned once more as he and the older man left the room. "Clint, has anyone come up with a reason that I have such a variety of powers? First my tech and Know-It-All ability manifest earlier than they should, then my eyes changed when my pyro kinesis activated, and now I can not only go into other people's head, but I can levitate stuff when I look at myself; what is going on with me?"

Clint also frowned at this. "The only thing anyone seems to come up with is the fact all your powers are _mental_ based, as emotions also form in the brain. But we already knew that, didn't we?" he asked jokingly and resisted the urge to elbow Joey gently in the ribs like he usually would.

"Yeah, but I'm just…worried." Joey admitted. "What if I _can't_ control all these powers and do something stupid?"

"Don't say that, _you _can control them, not the other way around." Clint replied putting a hand on the younger blonde's shoulder. "I know you can do it."

Joey smiled, and he didn't care that the entire hallway lights lit up.

* * *

><p>Clint watched Joey leave with Cheshire curled in his arms as he went back upstairs, the dog having given him its customary growl and he'd merely rolled his eyes at it. The blond was about to go to the elevator when he heard Stark call his name.<p>

"Barton!"

The blond contemplated just ignoring him, but didn't want to botch any chance of getting to adopt Joey, so he forced himself to look at the man. "What?"

"We need to talk, it's about Joey." Stark replied.

Clint frowned. "What about him? Is there something wrong?"

"No, it's about the assault charge you have for attacking his father." Stark explained.

The blond scowled at him. "Do _not_ call that pathetic excuse for a human being his father, he doesn't deserve it." He said before turning away.

"And you do?" Stark questioned and Clint paused before looking back at him with a glare and felt something snap.

"Fine, you wanna know about the charge? I only attacked that man because he broke Joey's arm and put him in the hospital when he was _twelve_. I'll admit that I went there because I wanted to kill him, and I almost did because I thought Joey was better off without him." Clint spat heatedly. "I'm the only one here who even gives a damn about him, not what use he has, but _him_. And you wanna know something else? Joey was in the hospital because his so called _father_ tried to kill him and when he was on life support I heard that he tried to get the doctors to take Joey off the machine because he wouldn't pay for it! Well guess what, Stark, that man hasn't been seen since, and Joey _has_ been doing better! So don't you dare imply that Joey should ever have to suffer through that anymore!" he knew he was shouting, but he didn't care. "Joey _is_ my son; the only thing stopping that from being official is that damn piece of paper I need to get sent into the system." He hissed before storming away from the shell-shocked looking Stark.

He needed to go blow off some steam of his own right now.


	18. Just Like You

_Flasback/Dreams_

_'Thoughts'_

_"Speaking over the phone"_

"Speaking"

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 17: Just Like You<strong>

Joey frowned to himself as he gently petted Cheshire on the head as he thought about his upcoming session with this 'Frost' woman who was supposed to help him. He wondered how his power was supposed to be controlled anyway. He knew better not to think about someone as he at least knew that it was trigger and he's end up in their head.

Joey asked himself if it was time to go downstairs and he got a 'yes.' The blond set Cheshire down onto the floor and got off his bed before walking toward the door. He paused at the reflective door and saw that there wasn't a scar on his forehead from the injury and had taken the bandage off.

_'Another few days and I'll be able to take the cast off too._' He thought before walking downstairs and heard Cheshire padding along with him and gave a mandatory growl at the blond woman sitting on the sofa chair with one leg folded over the other. "Uh, you must be Frost." He said and she raised a brow. "Okay, so your name might not be that, but I don't know your first name," he paused, "what is your name?"

"Emma." The woman replied in a posh British tone.

"Oh, that's a nice name." Joey said with some sincerity in his voice. "So what's first Miss Frost?" he asked and was about to sit down on the sofa when Frost raised a hand.

"Don't bother sitting down, Joseph." She said and Joey reframed from pointing out how he liked being called Joey, but he didn't want to make things difficult. "We are going out, practical work always seems to work best, and what better way to help your control than to go into the thoughts of others?"

"Are we allowed to do that?" Joey asked with a slight frown.

"My dear boy, I was only hired to _teach_ you, and how can I help you if you don't know how to control being able to go into someone else's thoughts in the first place?" Frost questioned as she stood.

Joey thought it over briefly before finding that the words reminded him of his own words from yesterday. "I see." He said thoughtfully. "It does make sense. Granted, we can't _tell_ anyone that this was part of my learning curve."

Frost smirked sardonically. "I couldn't agree more." She chimed in as she led Joey out of the Mansion and Cheshire kept padding alongside Joey.

"No, go back inside." He admonished, but Frost waved it off.

"He can come, it doesn't matter." She said and after pausing momentarily, Joey nodded and picked Cheshire up in his arms before catching up with her as they walked down the sidewalk. She stopped when they were behind a group of people at the crosswalk. "First lesson, try to enter their minds."

"That's easy enough." Joey replied neutrally as all he had to do was _think_ about the people. He concentrated and eventually his eyes narrowed in disbelief. "I don't get it, I was able to go into Clint's and Cheshire's heads by just thinking their names."

"Ah, but you don't _know_ these people's names, do you?" Frost pointed out.

Joey blinked at this. "Oh." He muttered before thinking about this _specific_ group right in front of him. _'What are these people thinking?_' he thought and felt his vision start to split, one still being him, and the other being in multiple heads. "Whoa, I didn't know I could use this on a _group,_ I only thought it worked on one person at a time."

"Focus, Joseph." Frost chastised.

"Oh, right." Joey replied and respected the privacy of the people to just skim the thoughts they were currently thinking instead of going deeper into their minds. "Well, some of them are thinking about what to have for their lunch, and that lady in the hat is thinking about where to shop," he shuddered minutely, "and that man in the trench coat is thinking about-"

"What man?" Frost questioned as she furrowed her brow and could not see the person Joey was speaking of.

Joey glanced up at the woman as Cheshire jumped out of his arms and padded along the concrete to the group of people. "He's in the back…he's petting Cheshire on the head, you really can't see him?"

"Joseph, I'm going to look inside your mind to make sure you're not…imagining things." Frost said and though Joey frowned, he nodded anyway and the woman's eyes narrowed in concentration before she grabbed her temples and shut her eyes tightly. "Miss Frost, are you alright?"

"Fine, simply splendid." Frost replied before opening her eyes. "Joseph, remove your presence from their minds, we are leaving." She added with a twinge of worry that Joey failed to notice.

The other blond blinked before shrugging and simply _stopped_ thinking about being in the people's minds and his vision went back to just him and he whistled to get Cheshire's attention. "Come one Cheshire, we're going back inside the house." He called crouching down. The dog's ears flattened for a moment as he glanced up at the man before padding along back to Joey and the blond scooped him up and the three of them went back to the Mansion.

Frost glanced back at the group as she still wasn't able to see anyone, but she did know that someone _was_ there, or, _had_ been there anyway.

* * *

><p>Serenity sat at her desk in her new, well, it shouldn't be new to her now, room. One bed was one side of the room, while another was on the other side of the room, two desks also in the room for her and her roommate to study on. She had been nervous the first day she'd gotten here, despite how nice Jean had been to show her around.<p>

_"And here's your room, I hope you don't mind that you'll have to share it with someone." The redheaded woman said._

_Serenity shook her head as she looked into the room for the first time. "No, it's alright." She replied and reframed from pointing out it would be nice to have a roommate, as it meant she wouldn't have to constantly think about when Joey would be okay. "I think the change of scenery will do me some good." _

_"Remember; don't be scared to ask questions." The redhead said and Serenity nodded before going into the room with her bags. _

_The girl looked at the side of the room that wasn't covered with some posters and walked over to the other bed and placed her bags on it before sitting down and felt a knot starting to form in her stomach. She'd never been away from her mother before, but it hurt._

_Because even though her mother didn't bother to tell her that her brother wasn't her brother, she still loved the woman. _

_Another girl came into the room, this one having short blond hair. "So you must be the newbie." _

_Serenity blinked. "Uh, I guess so." She said shyly. "What's your name? I'm Serenity Wheeler." _

_"Tabitha, but I'm also called Boom-Boom." The blond girl said._

_"Boom-Boom? Why are you called that?" Serenity questioned._

_Tabitha grinned as a small glowing orange orb appeared in her hand and she tossed it into the air, the ball exploding with a small burst. "_That's_ why." _

_"Cool!" Serenity said in awe. _

_"So what's your power?" Tabitha questioned sitting on the edge of her own bed. _

_Serenity frowned, as she had asked what her power was. And honestly, while she was glad her powers weren't flashy like Joey's, she was a little disappointed that they weren't exactly useful. As since she couldn't even help her brother as she looked at his mood before and only felt helpless with how sad he always was._

_"I can see the emotions people give off and their relationships to other people." She replied at last. "I know there probably lame, but I'm more about being under the radar." _

_"Well your powers are perfect for that then." Tabitha said sarcastically, but the red-haired girl wasn't offended. "Still, you'd have a great poker face if you ever decided to gamble." She said with less sarcasm._

_"Er, thank you?" Serenity questioned more than stated. _

Serenity had taken a day or so to get used to Tabitha's abrasive personality and the blond leaving her school things lying around the room. But she did learn that the girl was also nice as she'd help her sometimes with her homework, and once grew brave enough to ask her and some of the other girls wanted to go to her birthday party with her.

_"You're inviting us to your birthday?" Kitty Pryde, a girl with long brown hair asked furrowing her brows in surprise._

_Serenity nodded shyly as she looked down at her feet as she gathered the girls in her and Tabitha's room. "Yeah, it's okay if you don't wanna come though"_

_"Do your parents know that, uh, you're a mutant?" Jubilation Lee aka Jubilee asked uncertainly. _

_Serenity nodded. "My mom actually took it pretty well; she was just more concerned with the fact I was going to be leaving and wondered how I'd be."_

_"What about your dad?" Tabitha asked bluntly._

_"I don't have a dad." Serenity said somewhat coldly and the other girl's blinked in surprise at the girl's normally shy and polite tone. "My step-father though hasn't been seen in a while so I wouldn't know."_

_"Oh, then who's this cutie?" Tabitha asked taking the picture of a blond teenager off Serenity's night stand that she hadn't seen before. _

_"My brother." Serenity replied softly._

_"Is he going to be at the party?" Kitty asked with a smile as she looked at the picture over the blonde's shoulder._

_Serenity frowned as she clenched her fists. "He won't be as he's in a coma." _

_The smile was wiped off Kitty's face as Tabitha's expression went blank and put the photo down gently. "What happened, if you don't mind me asking?" Kitty asked nervously._

_"I don't mind, not really; the sting is almost gone." Serenity answered absently. "The gist of it is though he saved me, my mom, and my friend when we were kidnapped by some psycho lady."_

_"You mean that Karla Sofen who was on the news?" Jubilee asked as her eyes widened. _

_Serenity had heard about the news report, but she didn't want to watch it as all the 'could haves' her mind came up with almost made her sick. She only heard though that the victim's names hadn't been released, and Joey had been taken to the hospital before anyone could find out about him. _

_"Yeah, she kidnapped us because she wanted my brother." Serenity replied. _

_Kitty's face suddenly twisted up in a mix of horror and disgust. "You don't mean she _wanted_ him, right?" _

_Serenity shuddered as Tabitha gave Kitty a dirty look. "I don't know, but I don't want to think about what _she could_ have done to him." _

The girls had agreed to go with her to her party, and even took her out shopping to cheer her up from seeing how depressed her mood seemed to have gotten from thinking about one of her 'could have beens' from that day. While she appreciated the gesture, she had still gone to bed thinking about her brother being in the coma.

The door to the room was knocked and Serenity looked up from her homework. "Come in."

The door opened and the Frost lady was standing there. "Hello Serenity."

"Hello Miss Frost." Serenity replied politely.

"I have something very interesting to tell you." Frost replied.

Serenity furrowed her brows. "What is it?"

* * *

><p>"So, how was your lesson?" Clint asked as he and Joey sat on the younger blonde's bed and both were eating pizza topped with extra cheese and mushrooms for their dinner while everyone else was downstairs.<p>

"Hmm, I'll tell if you tell me why you're up here instead of down there with your teammates." Joey replied. "Not that I'm _complaining_ of course, it's just curiosity talking here."

"I may not be able to bring you home with me, but that doesn't mean I can't _eat_ with you up here, especially since JARVIS told me that you weren't eating like you're supposed to." Clint replied.

"Huh?" Joey blinked and looked up at the walls. "I don't get it, why tell Clint?" he asked curiously.

_"Master Clint is your primary caregiver; therefor it was only logically to report to him that you were not eating properly."_ JARVIS replied.

"Even JARVIS knows that you're practically my dad, why can't anyone else see that?" Joey grumbled. "I bet if I were a female victim of abuse people would see it." He hissed and Cheshire jumped onto his bed and leaned against his side.

"Don't say that." Clint shot back, and while he didn't raise his voice, there was still a steel-like quality in it. "You _do_ matter, you matter to _me_." He said firmly.

Joey paused before nodding. "Thanks." He said before smirking lightly, though the lights stayed the same so it was an indicator that there wasn't any feeling to it. "And is it true you chewed out Iron Man?" he questioned.

"Where'd you hear about that?" Clint asked raising a brow.

"Around." Joey shrugged, but the look on the older blonde's face made him deflate. "Okay, I skimmed over the thoughts of some of the staff during my lesson with Miss Frost."

"Joey, while I don't really mean, I have to say it; you have respect other people's privacy." Clint droned.

"I did." Joey retorted. "I only looked at their surface thoughts and not deeper." He explained and the other blond shrugged. "Though it did get weird during our lesson when we went outside and she first had me try it on a group. Get this; I can look through the eyes of _several_ people at once." He said and had to control himself from getting excited. "There was this one point though where I saw the thoughts of someone that Miss Frost apparently couldn't see; even though he was standing there in the back of the group."

Clint frowned in concern. "Oh? Are you sure you saw someone there?"

Joey nodded. "He was standing there with a trench coat on and he had dark hair, Cheshire even let the guy pet his head." He said and frowned himself. "In fact, he didn't even growl at the man, the same with the other man at the café where he gave me that milkshake he seemed to have, even though the place didn't _have _strawberry, and they got the drink right."

"Even the extra cream at the top?" Clint asked as his frown deepened and Joey nodded. "And you also say that your dog didn't even growl at him?" he asked and Joey nodded again. "Was it the same person?"

Joey's own frown deepened as he thought back to it, but the memory seemed to have gotten fuzzy when he tried to think of what the man looked like. "I…don't know." He replied sounding confused. "I couldn't see him today and even more, Miss Frost seemed to get nervous after she asked to make sure I wasn't seeing things and she grabbed her head like she was in pain."

Clint furrowed his brow in thought. "What were his thoughts were about?"

"He was thinking…" Joey trailed off as he tried to grasp what the thought had been. "I don't know." He whispered. "It's like when I tried to remember what he looked like I couldn't see his face, and when I try to think about what he thought it's like it's just out of my reach." He replied frowning. "What's happening to me?"

Cheshire let out a groan and nudged Joey in the side, the blond feeling the niggling at the back of his mind and he absently started to pet the dog on the head.

Clint couldn't think of any other response to that other than a reassurance. "There's nothing wrong with you." He said and his gaze locked onto the dog's for a moment, who almost seemed to be agreeing with him.

* * *

><p>"Frost should be here now." Clint drawled the next morning as Joey followed after him into the living room. "Though, why don't you wait out here for her?"<p>

"You don't like this woman, do you?" Joey asked raising a brow.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" Clint asked smirking.

There was the sound of soft chuckling as Frost came out of the living room. "Clint, Joseph." She said and gave the dog a nod.

"Joseph?" Clint asked raising a brow.

"Yes, or do you not know the name of your own son?" Frost shot back coolly.

Clint's face turned a light red. "_Of course_ I know his name, I just never heard anyone call him that."

"Clearly." Frost retorted and the man rolled his eyes before the woman looked down at Joey. "And I think you'll happen to like our lesson today as I brought a volunteer with me."

Joey tilted his head. "Who?"

The blonde woman moved out of the way to let Joey see the girl sitting on the couch and she smiled softly. "Hi Joey."

The blond boy felt his breath hitch. "Serenity." He replied and made a move to step forward before the girl shot up and raced over to hug him. He wrapped his arms around her and put his chin on her head, ignoring the phantom aches in his ribs as he wasn't about to let it ruin this moment.

"I missed you." The girl said as her voice was shaky.

"I missed you too." Joey replied and shot a glare at Cheshire when he growled before reluctantly pulling away from Serenity and put his arm around her shoulder and looked down at the dog.

"Aw, what a cute dog." She said.

"Cheshire, this is Serenity, the best sister I could ever ask for." Joey said proudly and Serenity smiled and blushed at the praise.

Cheshire's reaction surprised them all as the dog immediately snarled at the girl and tried to bite at the girl, but Joey moved in front of her and gritted his teeth as the dog's fangs sunk into his leg instead. As if realizing that he wasn't biting the person he wanted, he let go of Joey's leg and whimpered as his ears flattened against his head as he moved back.

Joey lifted up his pant leg after seeing the blood starting to stain his pant leg and his leg was bleeding. He grimaced at the sensation. "Clint, take Cheshire back up to my room please while I go clean this." He said moving up the stairs and Clint picked the dog up, who didn't even snap at his fingers and followed Joey upstairs.

The blond teenager went into the medical ward and started cleaning his wound with the disinfectant and wrapped a bandage around his leg. The wound didn't look that bad, but what concerned him was how Cheshire reacted to Serenity. Joey walked out of the room and went back into his own room where Cheshire was sitting in the corner, with Clint sitting on his bed.

"Did you put him in the corner?" Joey asked.

"No, as soon as I sat him down, he went straight over there." Clint replied. "How's your leg?"

"It wasn't anything bad." Joey replied shrugging and walked over to the dog. "Cheshire, what made you try to attack her, you've only ever growled at people." The dog made no sound or moved. "She's my sister." The dog growled at the mention of the word and Joey frowned to himself. "She's the only sister I have." He said and again the dog growled. "She's the only _little_ sister I have." He said and the dog made no sound this time.

The older blond frowned. "Maybe getting Frost to bring Serenity here was a bad idea."

"No," Joey said turning around, "I really did miss her, and I still want to be with her today." He said and looked down at the dog sternly. "And the next time you see her, you will _not_ attack my sister, do you understand?"

The dog, growled at the mention of 'sister' but made a movement that looked a lot like a nod.


	19. Crisscross

_Flasback/Dreams_

_'Thoughts'_

_"Speaking over the phone"_

"Speaking"

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 18: Crisscross<strong>

Joey walked down to the living room and found his teacher and sister both in the room and sitting on the couches. "Hey, you alright?" he asked looking at his sister.

Serenity cringed. "I should be asking you that question; you got hurt because your dog doesn't like me."

"Cheshire doesn't like anyone." Joey replied, though he found the memories of yesterday starting to grow fuzzy as again. "Miss Frost, did you happen to do anything to my mind when you were in it?"

"No, I did not." Frost replied. "Would you like me to help you recover it after our session?" she questioned and Joey nodded. "Right, take a seat beside your sister; she has volunteered to let you go inside her mind."

Joey took a seat next to Serenity and looked at her worriedly. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Serenity nodded. "Yes, I'm sure. I wanna help you."

"Uh, alright then." Joey replied.

"Now, Joseph, concentrate on Serenity's memories, and Serenity, I want you to try and block him out." Frost instructed.

Joey and Serenity both closed their eyes and did as they were told. The redhead didn't feel anything, but assumed that was how Joey's power worked. The blond was in her head, but as he searched around, he found a wall and mentally tapped on it a few times, and being not only in his sister's head, but her body as well, he felt her jerk her shoulder and felt her eyes open.

Joey paused momentarily in trying to get past the wall as he saw himself through her eyes and noticed the faint white line on his forehead that he didn't notice before from his head injury. "I have a scar?" he yelled, but the voice was not his own but his sister's as it imitated his Brooklyn accent and he felt the body blink. "Serenity, you still in here?" he asked worriedly.

"Yes, I'm just as surprised as you are about this is this how your power is supposed to work too?" He felt the mouth move, but he knew that it was his sister speaking as by the more polished tone of her voice.

"I really don't know since I never had any time to explore what my powers _could_ do." Joey replied and felt the mouth frown. "Miss Frost, do you have any clue?"

"Hmm, this is certainly an interesting development." Frost said sounding genuinely fascinated. "I do though believe since Serenity is doing something as passive as making a shield, that your conscience was the more dominant one in place so the body is reacting to your presence." She explained. "Serenity, I want you to stop blocking Joseph from seeing your mind." She instructed and Joey saw the mental walls lower. "Now, can you say anything Joseph?"

Joey tried to speak, but found that he couldn't, so he spoke through his own body. "No, I couldn't."

"Fascinating." Frost said rubbing her chin with one hand. "It appears that you can only take control of someone if there doing something else and leave you being the most active one in their mind." She explained. "Is it possible to do the reverse and let someone in your mind?"

"That's not a good idea." Joey said opening his eyes and saw this action through Serenity's eyes as he went back to being merely an observer in her head. _'You shouldn't have to see what I've gone through._' He thought and Serenity grabbed his hand.

"I understand, but what about Clint? Would he help you with this?" Serenity asked answering the mental reply in her mind.

"Well, maybe, but I already said no since I don't want to know what's in _his_ head." Joey replied as he mentally showed Serenity and him talking to Clint about this. "Nor do I think he'd want to also see what's in _my_ head."

"If you don't test the boundaries of what you can do with this, you won't know the full extent of what you are capable of." Frost pointed out. "You may not have telepathy, but you have something else; a power that can let you be on the most trusting level with someone. You never have to be hurt if you can control this."

Joey frowned thoughtfully and felt Serenity squeeze his hand. "Alright, I get it." He replied. "So we continue on with our session?"

"Yes, while this is most interesting, we still have a lesson to finish." Frost said and Joey nodded before he started looking deeper into Serenity's mind and found the girl's birthday party.

_'I don't know about this one, I couldn't even be awake to see this day.'_ He thought.

_'It's okay, even though it's only a memory, you can still feel like you were there.'_ Serenity thought back and Joey nodded before he let the memory play out.

_Joey looked around the room and saw all the middle school kids that he didn't recognize, but from Serenity's memory these are her class mates. _

_He saw his sister talking to his new brunette friend named Perenna, who was looking sympathetically at her. "Have you gotten any word on how your brother is doing?"_

_Serenity shook her head. "His dad called, but he said that there was no change and he was still in a coma." She whispered._

_Joey frowned as he felt the stabbings of guilt, but seeing as this was a memory, there really was nothing he could do now. _

_The dark-haired girl from the warehouse came over and handed the girl a box. "Hello Ren and Ren." _

_Perenna looked dryly at the girl. "At least call me Perry, Ren is Serenity's nickname." _

_The dark-haired girl grinned unrepentantly. "Whatever you say, Perry." She said cheerily and the brunette rolled her eyes. _

_Serenity's dour expression lightened up and Joey felt his own mood lighten and watched the rest of the memory with interest._

When Joey stopped seeing the memory, he blinked and retracted himself from his sister's mind and she blinked as well. "It seemed you had a nice party." He said and Serenity nodded shyly.

"Well, if you two are done, we're out of time." Frost said breaking the mood.

"Oh, right." Joey replied and sat forward and closed his eyes again and Frost's own narrowed in concentration.

"Think about the day you have trouble remembering." She instructed and Joey thought back to the day at the café and when the not-waiter had come over to his table and put the milkshake down in front of him.

As Joey started to look up, the features were again starting to grow fuzzy, but thanks to Frost's assistance, his mind became less hazy and the blurriness of the memory faded a little by little until he was able to fully remember what he looked like. Though unlike the actual day it happened, Joey saw the eyes shift and back in reality Frost jerked back against the chair she was sitting on and her eyes widened in an unusual display of losing her cool.

"I remember!" Joey shouted triumphantly. "Thanks Miss Frost…what's wrong?" he asked as he triumph and the brighter than normal lights went back to normal as the feeling faded to worry.

"Yes Joseph, I am fine." Frost replied coolly as she regained her composure. "I was just…startled."

Joey furrowed his brow. "Miss Frost, do you know who that was?" he asked.

"You could say that." Frost replied vaguely. "But I think it would be most prudent for Serenity and I to return to the school."

"What school?" Joey asked tilting his head.

"Oh, she's right, time for us to go!" Serenity said hurriedly as she practically ran for the door.

Joey stared after his sister oddly before shaking his head. "I wonder if I could try how far the distance for this power is and if I could find out who this person is." He mused aloud and didn't notice Frost tensing.

"No, I think it'd be best if you just stick to training your control over it, as next week I will be evaluating how much you've been doing, understood?" Frost questioned and Joey reluctantly nodded.

_'I can still ask Clint if he might know, a long shot, but worth a shot.'_ He thought as the blonde woman followed suit after his sister toward the door. _'Now, where is Clint?'_ he asked himself and got 'kitchen' as the reply and he walked toward the kitchen, peering into the room and found only Clint in there. "Hi Clint."

"Joey." Clint replied only briefly glancing up from the pile of mail on the table. "How's your leg?"

"Well, considering my dog tried to bite my sister for no reason…pretty good actually." Joey replied and sat down on a chair at the table. "So what's all this?"

"Our fan mail." Clint deadpanned and Joey started choking on the air before patting himself on the chest with his good hand.

"You're kidding right?" Joey questioned as he wheezed it out, but got no reply. "Oh, you're serious then." He said and picked up a lone mail envelope that was addressed to Clint. "Hey, it's my DNA test results." He paused briefly before opening it. "I know that my mother isn't my mother, but I still want to see what it says."

"Are you talking to me or yourself?" Clint asked raising a brow.

Joey rolled his eyes before shrugging. "Little of both really." He said looking over the test sheet. "Mother, no match." He gave a glance in Clint's direction. "Couldn't see that coming." He said sarcastically before his attention was drawn back to the sheet and he furrowed his brow. "The hell?"

"What is it?" Clint asked curiously.

"According this sheet I _have_ no mother." Joey replied frowning.

Clint furrowed his brow and took the sheet out of his hand. "Let me see that." He said looking the sheet over. "The hell?" he parroted.

"I _know_." Joey said nodding. "How did I get born then, or did I really just spring out of nowhere?"

"Well, that would make an interesting theory, but since your step-mother said your "father" cheated on her, it's obvious you came from…_somewhere_." Clint replied looking at the sheet before turning to Joey.

The blond teenager put his elbow on the table before putting his chin in his good hand and frowned in thought. "Unless of course my real mother has that rare thing where their DNA comes up genetically the opposite gender of their own."

"Wait, that's a real thing?" Clint asked surprised.

Joey nodded. "Yeah, read it somewhere I think." He replied before pausing. "Speaking of thinking, Miss Frost helped me clear up my memory of that not-waiter guy, and I can now remember what he looks like. Though she did seem kinda…freaked after she cleared it up. But it's not like a _memory_ can kick you out, right?" he chuckled but Clint frowned.

"And, what exactly did this man look like?" he asked.

Joey paused once more as he thought back to the day, only to blink in surprise as his mind went back to when both Janet and Clint had frozen upon seeing him smirk. "Who do _you_ think I look like?" he asked evasively and narrowed his eyes.

Clint frowned at him and looked for a moment like he wasn't going to answer before an uneasy smile crossed his face. "Well, at least you don't look like your "father" aside from how your eyes looked before, right?"

"Right." Joey retorted bluntly. "So it stands to reason I'd resemble my mother…whoever she is." He added offhandedly before deliberately finishing with, "Though I wonder if I _think_ about who it could be…"

"No!" Clint shouted, and almost like a knee-jerk reaction, Joey flinched at the yell. "I mean," He said in a much more calm voice, "it wouldn't be a very good idea to try that."

"That's what Frost said too." Joey admitted grudgingly, but he at least got his answer. "She seemed to know who it was in my memory, yet you're freaking out and I haven't even _told_ you; would it be so bad to tell _me_ your suspicion_?"_

"Yes," Clint replied, "it would be. Please, just trust me; you're better off not knowing; _especially_ if I'm right."

Joey stared at him for a moment and during the years he had known the man, he'd never once withheld anything from him unless he had a _damn_ good reason, like not telling him he was a superhero because he honestly thought the younger blond was better off not knowing.

"Okay, I'll stop asking."

* * *

><p>"What is it I'm looking at?" Natasha questioned looking over a sheet in one hand with a mug of coffee in the other, her having come over to Clint's home as he needed to talk with someone, and who better than his best friend?<p>

"That's Joey's maternity test sheet." Clint replied. "We got him and his step-mother tested to see if they matched, and they didn't."

"So what is the problem? Shouldn't you both be _happy_ about this?" Natasha questioned again as she raised a brow.

"I am, and I know he is." Clint replied nodding. "It's what's on the _rest_ of the sheet. _Officially_, the sheet dictates that Joey doesn't _have_ a mother, as neither strand of DNA cells in the columns is female. _Unofficially_ on the other hand…" he trailed off.

"And does Joey know this?" Natasha asked.

"Yeah, as he saw the sheet first, but I managed to convince him that he did _not_ in fact spring up from out of nowhere." Clint said chuckling as he looked back on it. "And I got him to not go asking who it was."

"And, who do you think it could be?" Natasha asked deliberately as she put her hand over his, only to have him move it away from her as he looked at her with a serious look in his eyes.

"I think we _all_ could tell who it is from this." He replied.

"And, if it _is_ him, do you really think keeping this from your…_son_ is the best course of action?" The woman questioned.

"Joey's better off not knowing." Clint parroted his earlier words. "And, thanks for listening 'Tasha."

The redheaded woman gracefully stood from her seat and made a move to the door before looking over her shoulder at him. "I'm still surprised that you'd want to _stay_ in a place that must give you such a bad memory."

Clint's shoulders tensed up, but his expression was cavalier, even if a bit strained. "I manage." He replied. "I just keep telling myself that as bad as that day was… it could have been a lot worse."


	20. Perfect Poison

_Flasback/Dreams_

_'Thoughts'_

_"Speaking over the phone"_

"Speaking"

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 19: Perfect Poison<strong>

"You know, it's strange, but I think I'm actually spending more time with you than any of my other friends." Joey mused aloud as he and Perenna walked out of ESU. It was good to be back, and even though he was getting the cast taken off his arm, his friends and Miss Drew had been nice enough to sign it, and when he'd gotten to the building, Perenna had even signed it.

"Really, why is that?" Perenna questioned as she tilted her head.

"Because I've never spent more than 10 minutes with any of them since I've been back in school." Joey replied. "I can't eat in there without being ridiculed by Kaiba."

"Kaiba?" Perenna repeated as she furrowed her brow. "As in Seto Kaiba, the CEO of KaibaCorp?"

Joey paused before shrugging. "I'll take your word for it, but I guess so." He really didn't care that the other was a CEO as he was still a jerk and really pushed his buttons. He'd never been able to let someone else rile him up like Kaiba always could. "Say, you wanna come over to where I'm staying for dinner?"

Perenna blinked at him. "Dinner? Won't I be intruding?"

Joey shrugged. "Nah, I'll just call my…guardian up and tell him that you'll be coming over."

Perenna nodded absently as the blond took out his cell and she decided to do the same. "I'll call mine and tell her that I'm eating at your house then."

Joey didn't have time to correct as the other line was picked up. "Hey, Clint, I'm bringing a friend, is that okay?"

_"Sure, just be sure to keep your bedroom door open."_ Clint replied.

Joey frowned in confusion. "Why would I shut it in the first place?"

_"Eh? Never mind then."_ Clint replied nonchalantly and Joey decided to do just that and forget what he said.

"Thanks though." He said and ended the call just in time to hear Perenna bid a goodbye to someone on her cell. "He said you could come over."

"My aunt said I could go too, but I have to be back home by 8." Perenna replied.

Joey shrugged. "Okay, got enough bus fare to make the trip?" he asked smirking and the brunette smirked back at him.

"Of course I do." She replied and they both walked over to the bus stop.

* * *

><p>"Wow, you live <em>here<em>?"

Joey tried not to frown at the awe in Perenna's voice. "I take it you know what this place is?"

"How could anyone not know that this is the Avenger's base?" Perenna questioned. "And you _live_ here."

"Trust me; I don't _want_ to be here." Joey muttered and the brunette looked at him with wide eyes.

"How can you say that?" she questioned softly. "Don't you like this place?"

"If it was my _choice_ I might, and the lab is pretty cool I guess." Joey replied grudgingly as they walked toward the building.

"So does your guardian work here?" Perenna questioned as she deduced that this might be the only way for Joey to be able to live in this place.

"You could say that." Joey answered slowly and evasively as they came into the room and headed for the stairs.

"Wait, aren't we eating with the Avengers?" Perenna actually looked disappointed at this.

"No, I avoid being around them whenever I can." Joey replied shrugging. "Clint is probably gonna bring our meals to us." He added and Perenna looked in the direction of the dining room and sighed when she followed Joey upstairs. The blond noticed this and decided to take pity on her. "Do you wanna know a secret, but you have to promise not to say anything."

"What is it?" Perenna questioned tilting her head.

"Clint is Hawkeye." Joey replied bluntly.

Perenna stopped on the second step and stared at him with a slack jaw. "He is?"

"Shh!" Joey hissed and Perenna cringed back. "Not so loud."

"Sorry." She whispered. "But you having a superhero as a guardian must be awesome, especially since he's the only really human ones on the team, even if he can't hold a candle to Elektra."

Joey paused, the need to defend his guardian rearing its head in his mind. "Elektra? My guardian can pull of impossible shots, she can throw knives."

"Yeah, but she's also the most deadly woman in the world." Perenna whispered back heatedly.

"Okay, I'll give you that." Joey admitted before walking up the stairs and Perenna continued on following him and when he came into the room, Cheshire almost timidly walked up to him and Joey pet the dog in the head and the dog licked his hand and Joey chuckled.

"Aw, what a cute dog." Perenna cooed, but cringed back when Cheshire growled at her. "Um, nice doggie?" she asked nervously as she walked around it.

"Don't worry, Cheshire does that to everyone." Joey replied and felt the ache in his ankle as a reminder that _no, he didn't do that to everyone_ as he remembered how Cheshire had tried to attack his sister and how he never growled at the man, but tried not to think about that fact as he promised to stop asking about that.

"Well, good to know then." Perenna said, but she still looked nervous as she sat down on Joey's bed and pulled her feet up.

"Hey Joey, how was school?" Clint asked coming into the room with two trays and set them on the bed.

"It was fine, we had a test, but I think I passed." Joey replied shrugging nonchalantly.

Clint noticed the brunette staring at him with wide eyes. "Uh, are you okay?"

Joey noticed the expression as well and elbowed the girl in the ribs, causing her to snap out of her daze and she blushed. "Oh, yes, I'm okay." She said shyly before looking down at her lap.

Clint raised a brow before shaking his head and headed for the door, but Joey's voice stopped him. "You're not staying?"

"Sorry, I got more…another lead to follow." He said evasively before slipping out of the room.

Perenna glanced in the direction of the open door before looking at Joey. "He's so young." She said quietly and Joey nodded absently as he started to eat the fried rice, an odd taste in the dressing, but thought nothing of it. "And…_hot_."

Joey almost nodded before he paused and slowly looked at Perenna with a deadpan expression on his face. "Perenna, Clint is practically my dad; don't gross me out when I'm eating."

Perenna pouted as she started to swish the rice around a bread ball. "But he is." She insisted and the blond grimaced. "Oh alright, I'll stop talking about it." She said before taking a bite of the bread and stopped for a moment before shrugging and continuing to eat.

Cheshire jumped onto the bed and sniffed at the food from Joey's side and growled before trying to push Joey's hand away from the bread on the plate. "Not now, Cheshire." The blond said and momentarily put the dog onto the floor. "You have your own food, go eat that."

Cheshire made a whining sound before doing as he was told and went back over to his bowl, but gave Joey another look and the seemed to be glaring at the plates they were eating from.

Perenna noticed this too and looked at Joey with a raised brow. "Where did you get him?"

"I found him and Clint said if no one claimed I could keep him; and since no one has..." Joey replied as he trailed off and went back to eating.

Perenna seemed satisfied with this answer and also went back to eating. Though she couldn't help but wonder what type of seasoning was in this sauce.

* * *

><p>Joey felt his head ache and his stomach started churning, causing him to wake up and he wiped his burning forehead and felt the sweat drip from it. He squinted into the dark room and wondered what was wrong with him. He felt his breathing become laboured and felt his stomach, only to feel the bile rise in his throat and he quickly got out of bed and ran right out of the room toward the bathroom, closing the door and barely managed to make it to the toilet.<p>

The blond grabbed the side of his knees and his breathing came out heavily and his head started to hurt even more. He felt hot, cold, and tired all at once. He flushed the toilet and dragged himself to the sink before washing the sweat off his face and the bile out of his mouth.

The blond heard knocking at the door, and he squinted his eyes again before sluggishly opened it and saw a red-haired woman there. "Yeah?" he wheezed out.

"Are you okay, Joey?" Natasha questioned coolly.

Joey was too far gone to notice the somewhat icy demeanour. "I'm…" he trailed off and felt his legs give out beneath him and he felt himself fall face first into the carpet.

His last thought was; _what is wrong with me this time?_

* * *

><p>"Poisoned? What do you mean he's poisoned?" Clint shouted at the doctor in front of him. He'd been woken up in the middle of the night and had been annoyed, until he'd been told Joey was in the hospital again. And now the younger blond gets poisoned? Why did these things keep happening to Joey? What did he ever do to deserve this?<p>

"Calm down Mr. Barton…" The doctor tried to say, but the blond would have none of that.

"No, I will not be calm, you tell me he's been poisoned and you expect me to calm?" he yelled angrily. "How did this happen anyway?"

"Clint," The blond felt a hand land on his shoulder and he looked down at his redheaded best friend, "let the doctors do their job; your…_son_ will be alright."

The man still felt the rage at how this could have happened. Wasn't Joey supposed to be safe where he was? Stark should really get a better security system. He let Natasha lead him to the waiting room as another gurney came rushing into the emergency room, but his mind was too wrapped up in how this happened to notice.

The blond felt his friend's arms wrap around his waist and he awkwardly hugged her back. It felt odd to hug a woman, who was _not_ Laura, but this was his friend, and he didn't want to offend her by refusing to let her hug him. He _did_ love 'Tasha, but more like a sister as no one could replace his wife.

"Thanks." He muttered before pulling back and sitting down in one of the chairs, the redhead following suit. "What kind of poisoning is this? He shouldn't have to go through all this shit anymore after all he's been through." He said to himself.

"Perhaps you should go back home, to get some more rest." Natasha suggested.

Clint shook his head. "I'm not going anywhere until I hear he's gonna be okay." He said firmly and saw the doctor walking over to them. "Well?"

"He's stable, but was there anything you can think of that could have caused this?"

Clint shook his head. "No, I can't. He seemed fine when I saw him. How long will it be before you can find out what kind of poison he's got?"

"We just sent the stomach contents to the lab and we should know in the morning." The doctor replied and Clint nodded before running a hand through his hair.

"Can I at least go see him?" he asked.

"He's not conscious though, he won't be until tomorrow with the anesthesia we have him on to dull the pain he's in." The doctor replied.

Clint tried not to deflate as he nodded once more. "I see, but I'm still not leaving until I _can_ see him."

"Right, but there are two police officers that are here to see you." The doctor replied.

Clint furrowed his brow. "Why are they here?"

"Mr. Barton, your charge has been poisoned; this is a serious crime against a minor." The doctor replied and Clint nodded.

"Alright, where are they?" He asked and after being told they were in the lobby, he made a move to stand when Natasha grabbed his shoulder and he looked at her. "Yeah?"

"How…how _old_ is Joey?" she asked frowning.

Clint shrugged as he didn't see what she was worried about. "He's 15." He replied before walking away down the hall and met with two police officers.

"Officers Gonzales and Danvers, we'd like to ask you some questions about your charge, Mr. Barton." Gonzales said.

"Sure, what is it?" Clint asked frowning.

"Arrest that man!" A voice yelled from the entrance and Clint felt his rage return anew as he recognized it and looked over to the blond middle-aged man and he _almost_ looked the part of an enraged "father" and Clint would have fallen for it if he didn't know what the man was _really_ like. "He kidnapped my son!"

"What?" Clint shouted in disbelief. "I _didn't_ kidnap Joey, his step-mother said I _could_ take him with me because she didn't want him and _you_ weren't around!" he snarled.

"Calm down, calm down," Danvers said calmly, "now, what seems to be the problem?"

"Didn't you hear me, he kidnapped my son." The older blond man spat glaring at Clint. "Check his record; he has an assault charge filed against him."

The younger blond man felt his rage grow. "Yes, because _you_-"

"See, he even _admits_ he's violent." The other man said smugly and Clint reframed from attacking this man here and now.

"Now listen you-" Clint was going to say until he stopped as a small bag full of white sprinkled power fell from his belt onto the floor and he felt his rage turn to disbelief as his insides froze.

Gonzales picked up the baggie and frowned at the man. "Sir, maybe we should finish this discussion down at the station."

Clint couldn't even for the words to protest as he pulled from the hospital, though he shot a hateful glare at the other blond man following them out, whom only smirked in reply.

* * *

><p>Doctor Reyes looked over the test results and tsked at the fact a parent could poison a child and put the clipboard back onto the foot of the bed where the blond boy was sleeping with an I.V in his arm. She felt some sympathy for him as it got back to the doctors working on him that his 'guardian' had been taken to the police station under suspicion of the poisoning.<p>

She felt sleep start to come over her and knew her shift was almost over, needing to just check on the next patient sleeping on the other side of the curtain in the room.

She was about to go over to the next patient when she noticed a man come into the room with a doctor's coat on and a clipboard in his hands. "It's okay; I've already got this room covered."

The man tilted his head. "Oh really? Then what's his status?" he asked nodding in the blond boy's direction.

Reyes blinked to try and keep the sleep out of her eyes. "Poisoned, but he's been stabilized and now that we know what the toxin in his body is we can flush it out." She heard a snapping sound and looked back over at the man to see he'd broken the board in his hands.

"Oh and just how could this have happened?" he asked like he _didn't_ just break the board.

Reyes shook her head sadly. "His guardian, a Mr. Barton is under suspicion after some of the staff saw him drop a bag of rat poison on the ground." she said and thought nothing of the fact she _shouldn't_ be saying this. "We only pieced this together after seeing that the same poison was in this young man's stomach contents."

"I…see."

Reyes blinked again as she felt her head ache for a moment and when she grabbed her forehead and opened her eyes, she looked around in confusion as she wondered why she wasn't checking on her next patient.

When Reyes was on her way out of the room though, she thought of informing the cleaning staff that they had missed a pile of wooden splinters that were scattered on the floor.

* * *

><p>When Joey opened his eyes and saw the white ceiling of the hospital, he let out a groan. <em>'Oh right, I threw up last night<em>.' He thought and recalled blacking out. He cringed as he felt his stiff back move in protest as he sat up against the pillow. "Man, I feel like shit." He said to himself.

"Hey now, no swearing." A nurse said as she came into the room. "You seem to be doing better than you were last night, but you'll still have to stay for another night to make sure you're alright."

Joey frowned as he furrowed his brow. "Why, what happened? I thought I was just sick?"

The nurse sighed as she walked over to him and checked the I.V drip. "You were poisoned." She said somewhat bluntly, but Joey' eyes just widened. "Your stomach was pumped and the contents revealed the poison had been ingested when you ate your last mean beforehand."

Joey thought back to the previous day and had wondered at the strange taste the sauce had before he paled at _whom_ it had been that had _given_ him the food. "No." he whispered shaking his head. "You have to have made a mistake, I couldn't have gotten poisoned when I was eating dinner, where's Clint Barton?"

The nurse seemed to grow nervous. "Your guardian has been taken to the police station under suspicion of the poisoning."

"That _can't_ be true; I know he wouldn't hurt me." Joey protested as he tried really hard to keep his emotions under control.

"The man had the poison on him." The nurse replied.

Joey froze as his insides felt numb. "He…he couldn't have…" he trailed off weakly and the growing signs of a panic attack started coming on, but before he could start to scream and yell, he suddenly felt sleepy again as he was given a new drip bag.

His amber eyes grew droopy, but his thought remained the same; _Clint wouldn't do this to me._

* * *

><p>Clint frowned as he stared at the opposite side of the cell as he thought back to the fact he was being charged with kidnapping <em>and<em> poisoning Joey. He couldn't understand the ridiculousness of this all as he'd specifically stated he was going to _adopt_ Joey, so what reason did he have to _kill_ him.

Clint would have laughed at them for even _suggesting_ such a thing, but in the current situation, that wouldn't have helped his case. He definitely knew that he didn't poison Joey, so how had that bag gotten onto his belt?

He knew he was being framed, but who could have done this? Oh how he wanted to say it was that bastard of Joey's "father" but he was forced to admit the man couldn't have snuck up on him to do it. He thought back to when he was about to take the meals up to Joey and his friend, but he'd had to go to the washroom and when he'd gotten back the food looked fine.

He knew that in that time frame someone, someone _inside_ the house must have poisoned the food. But _why_? He could understand that some people would want to hurt _him_, but to attack him through Joey was low.

Clint was pulled from his thoughts as the concrete by his head exploded and he jumped to his feet. He looked at the man inside the cell and tried to yell "You!", but no sound came from his mouth and he clutched at his throat.

"I'm sure you're wondering why I'm here." The man said calmly and Clint tensed up, but the man waved his hand and Clint was thrown back into the wall with enough force to leave a crack in the concrete. The blond tried to stand up and used the wall for support. "But for your unasked question, no, no one can hear this out there."

Clint was again slammed into the wall and slid to the ground as he felt his back ache and was sure there were cuts on it now. 'What do you want?' he mouthed as he very well couldn't _say_ it, but he really couldn't understand why he was here.

"What do I want?" he repeated and scowled before again slamming Clint into the concrete. "You to suffer."

'Why?' Clint mouthed.

"Why? Because I went to the hospital Joey was at, and you want to know what I heard?" he questioned and Clint knew what was coming next. "You poisoned my son!" he said as his green eyes glinted in hate and Clint grabbed his head as it felt like it was going to explode. "But now the _real_ suffering begins."


	21. A Shared Suffering

_Flasback/Dreams_

_'Thoughts'_

_"Speaking over the phone"_

"Speaking"

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 20: A Shared Suffering<strong>

When Joey finally came around, he his thoughts were still centered around Clint and the absurdity of the man actually being the one responsible for poisoning him.

…Wait, his eyes opened wide when he remembered that _someone else_ had also been eating with him and that what if the culprit hadn't known _which_ plate was meant for him and just doused them both? That meant…

"Hey, glad to see you're awake."

Joey looked over at the other occupant in the room and tried to fight off the guilty expression on his face. "You got put in here because of being poisoned, didn't you?" he asked, but they both knew what the answer would be.

"Yeah, my aunt is kinda protective of me and was really upset when she came to see me when you were out." Perenna replied and smiled ruefully. "What are the odds that we'd both be put in the same room?"

"You can really joke at a time like this?" Joey questioned darkly. "You've got a better outlook than I do then." He said after a pause and the door opened to reveal a dark-haired woman. "Miss Drew, what are you doing here?" he asked sounding genuinely surprised to see her.

Perenna looked between the two and grabbed the curtain with the hand that was closest to it. "I'll let you two be." She said pulling the curtain back.

Joey raised a brow at the curtain, but turned his attention to the woman as she sat down at his bedside. "Seriously, how did you know I was here?"

Jessica smiled grimly. "You weren't in school today, so I asked myself, where is Joey when he's not in school?"

Joey grimaced at that. "Yeah, I _have_ been spending a lot of time in the hospital, too much time to be _healthy_ for me certainly." He added. "Though, why come to see me?"

"Because, I never came to see you before as I thought it would be unprofessional of me." Jessica replied. "But I realized that you were more than just a student, you were like an attentive little brother, only less annoying." She confessed.

Joey looked at her with wide eyes and felt a smile come over his face, but unfortunately while he was truly touched she thought so much of him, he couldn't do more than just give a shallow smile in return. "That means so much."

It really did, as no one other than his almost-adoptive siblings and Serenity had seen him as a brotherly figure before.

"Well, I supposed I should be getting back to school since I'm only on break," Jessica started and Joey felt a slight frown cross his face, "but I'll be sure to collect your homework for you this time."

Joey smiled again even as the woman stood. "Thank you." He said and the woman nodded before walking out of the room and gently closed the door.

The blond heard light snoring from the other side of the curtain and presumed Perenna was sleeping and decided to get some more rest himself, though he wondered how Clint was doing…

…_Oh no_.

Joey felt his own vision darken when he closed his eyes, but felt his mind connect with another and all too soon a new sensation of pain overcame him in his back. His vision in Clint's eyes was also dark, but he assumed it was only because the man was closing his eyes and he heard other voices in the mind, voices that were all eerily familiar.

_I wish I'd never met you!_

_…Laura._

_Why couldn't you save us?_

_…Callum._

_You weren't there to save us, Daddy._

_…Nicole._

_We'd still be here if you'd been faster._

_…Lewis._

_I hate you!_

_…His own voice._

Joey felt his own mind freeze up in agony as he heard these untrue things being spoken by phantoms of the people that Clint cared about. The older man was in pain, _emotional_ pain; this was just cruel to make him hear these things.

The teen gathered up enough of his own resolve to push past these voices to remind himself they weren't _true_. _'ENOUGH!_' he shouted into the man's mind and felt the voices dim to a murmur as he figured the only reason he was able to tone the voices down was because Clint was trying to escape the sound himself. _'None of these are true Clint, you are strong and what happened wasn't your fault; remember you made them _pay_.' _Joey thought to the man.

'_Joey? Is that really you?'_ Clint's thoughts sounded so amazed.

_'Yes, it's me, and I don't hate you, I could _never_ hate you…you're my dad._' Joey thought sincerely. _'What on earth caused you to think all those things?'_

_'Who, Joey.'_ Clint corrected him.

_'Okay then, who's doing this to you?'_ Joey rephrased and sent worry through his mind, but was met with apprehension and he realized that the one responsible was inside the cell. _'Clint, open your eyes and let me see.'_

'_I...can't. Then you really _will_ hate me.'_ Clint replied.

_'No, I _won't_.'_ Joey replied and slowly the older man began opening his eyes, giving Joey a look at the one responsible for this. '_I…I don't believe this; it's the guy who I saw in the café and at the group, the one who Miss Frost seemed nervous about.'_ He thought incredulously. _'But…who is he? Seriously, I have no idea who this is.'_

Joey felt Clint's apprehension grow before there was a resolve to it. _'It's Loki."_

Joey felt like blinking._ 'As in the super villain, are you serious?'_

'_Joey, I wouldn't lie to you about something like this.'_ Clint thought to him and Joey had to concede to that point.

_'Then why is he doing this? Aside from the fact you're an Avenger of course.'_ Joey thought with an evident frown in his mental voice.

_'He…he found out you were poisoned somehow.'_ Clint replied.

Joey sent out waves of confusion. _'Why the hell would he care what happens to me?'_ he thought before feeling a sense of disbelief as he dug deeper down into Clint's mind, long enough to find what he was looking for. He found the information and couldn't believe what he'd heard. _'But…huh…how is this even possible? Let me ask him myself.'_ He thought and before Clint could stop him, Joey felt the mouth on his guardian's body open. 'How can you have a kid?' he felt he eyes blink as there was no sound, and yet the man's face twisted up in fury.

"You should still be in agony right now, Avenger." He hissed.

'I'm not an Avenger, I'm…' Joey paused before saying it, 'Joey. I'm inside his mind right now.'

_'Maybe you didn't think this whole thing through, and since when can you possess people?'_ Clint thought in disbelief.

_'Since…that's a good point actually.'_ Joey thought as he saw the man's face again twist up and Joey felt his mind get pushed out of Clint's, leaving him back inside his body and he snapped his eyes open. _'Clint, Clint!'_ he shouted mentally as he thought about getting back into his pseudo-guardian's mind, only to get blocked out.

_'Oh this cannot be happening.'_ Joey thought before getting out of bed, his back aching and his stomach as well. He paused as a wave of vertigo came over him and he had to steady himself with one hand on the bed side. He grabbed the hospital robe and put it on over his gown and walked over to the door somewhat awkwardly and leaned against the wall as he made his way to the public phone on the wall.

When the blond reached the phone, he dialed the number for the police station. "Yes, could I please speak with Clint Barton?" he asked and when he received protest this he was in holding, his temper flared. "Just do it!" he hissed and there was the sound of lights exploding, but he paid no heed to it.

"_Joey?"_

The blond felt relieved to hear his guardian's voice. "Oh good you're still alive, I thought something had happened to you when I couldn't get back into your head."

_"Yeah, I know…wait, why you on the phone? And what do you mean you couldn't get into my head?"_ Clint asked in confusion and Joey felt his insides grow cold.

"You don't remember?" The blond teen questioned quietly. "The super villain, the voices, the emotional pain, you don't remember any of it? It happened just a few seconds ago!"

_"What…what are you talking about?"_ Clint asked sounding worried. "_I can safely I have no idea what you're saying."_

Joey frowned and stared down at the phone. "O-oh, I'm just glad you're okay, that's all." He replied shakily. "And I just wanted you to know that I don't think you would have poisoned me."

_"So far you're the only person who does think that_." Clint said darkly.

"Oh I feel so special." Joey said sarcastically before worry again laced his voice. "Seriously, you can't remember _anything?"_

_"I don't understand what you're _asking _me to remember." _Clint replied and Joey felt his shoulders slumped.

"Well, I'm glad you're okay is all." He replied and hung up the phone, his brow furrowing as he morosely walked back to his and Perenna's room, guilt creasing his features as he realized that she was here in the first place _because_ of him.

The blond heard the snoring of his roommate and knew Perenna was still asleep, so he tried to get back onto the bed quietly. When he put the blanket back over him, he saw the nurse from before come in and she looked at him, smiling slightly and Joey smiled back.

"And how are you?" she asked conversationally as she looked over Joey's start.

"Don't you mean 'how are you now'?" Joey asked frowning as the woman had come in to see him earlier.

The nurse nodding absently as she put the chart back and pinched the fabric of the robe he was wearing. "And why do you have this on, you've already got a blanket."

Joey shrugged as he tried to look disarming. "It was a little chilly in here, so I put it on."

"Really now? Are you sure it wasn't from calling your _guardian_?"

Joey froze as while woman's voice hadn't changed from its rather pleasant lit, the hand gripped his arm and he looked at her, his insides growing cold when he saw that the woman's eyes weren't gray anymore. "I…I have no idea what you're talking about."

"'I'm Joey. I'm in his mind right now'," The woman recited and Joey felt his eyes widen minutely, "cut the act, how much did you hear?"

"Enough to know who you are." Joey shot back and was surprised at his own gall; that or his stupidity at forgetting that the person in front of him was _not_ the nurse from earlier or trying to be smart was the best idea in this situation. The hand tightened on his arm and he quickly made way to revise his statement. "I mean, I know that you're my…" he paused and it felt strange to finish that particular sentence.

"Father."

"Clint is my dad." Joey said automatically and the hand tightened more. "Uh, what I mean is, I already _have_ a biological father."

The grip on his arm lessened a fraction. "Well obviously you couldn't have sprung up from thin air." She said derisively and Joey reframed from thinking of the fact Clint had told him the same thing when he'd suggested it.

"Okay then," Joey said tentatively as he'd witnessed Clint's emotional suffering and amnesia just minutes ago and didn't want that to happen to him, "but you're a dude."

The woman raised a brow at him. "I know for a fact that none of my children are _stupid_, so use that brain of yours for a second."

Joey felt like snapping back that he _wasn't_ an idiot, but gritted his teeth and thought over the current situation and the answer came to him. "You're a girl now…then that means…" he trailed off and his eyes widened. "So I really _do_ have a mother…"

"You sound surprised." The woman drawled and Joey noticed that there was a touch of scorn in her voice.

"How can I _not_ be?" The blond asked frowning.

The sound of the door clicking as it opened and Joey glanced over at the door and when Doctor Reyes came into the room, and the blond looked back at the side of his bed, but there was no one there. Joey blinked, but he guessed he shouldn't be surprised by this and looked back at the doctor.

"How are you feeling, Mr. Wheeler?" she asked as she began to check over his vitals.

"I'm…fine, all things considered." Joey muttered mutinously as the woman began looking over his cast before checking his temperature.

"Keep this in your mouth; I'm going to check on your roommate now." Doctor Reyes said before walking over to the other side of the curtain.

Joey looked down at his lap and thought over how much things had happened in such a short time. And despite the revelations, his biggest worry was still if Clint was going to really be okay.


	22. Far From Home

_Flasback/Dreams_

_'Thoughts'_

_"Speaking over the phone"_

"Speaking"

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 21: Far From Home<strong>

Clint strummed his fingers along the bars of his cell. "Hey, what about my one phone call?"

"You already _got_ your phone call." An officer shot back.

Clint rolled his eyes. "No, someone called _me_. Not the other way around." He retorted, a frowning crossing his face as he thought about the gap in his memory and the way Joey sounded on the phone, which only led him to believe that whatever he forgot couldn't be good.

The sound of his cell opening made him look up to see another officer escorting a redheaded man wearing dark sunglasses in. "Your lawyer, Barton."

The blond narrowed his eyes. "My lawyer?" he repeated and knew for a _fact_ that anyone was likely to just let him be thrown under the bus as the thing he was being charged with was serious and no one wanted to be within a three foot radius of him.

"Guess you got friends in high places." The officer said before closing the cell.

The red-haired man pulled out a whit retractable stick and when it came into contact with Clint's boot, he steadily made his way over to the bench and sat down. "You understand the serious nature of the crime you are being charged with, Mr. Barton?"

Clint gritted his teeth. "I did _not_ try to kill Joey." He snapped.

Though the sunglasses obscured most of Murdock's expression, his voice lost some of its frostiness. "And then pray tell who would want to frame you?"

"I can think of a few." Clint muttered. "And when I get my hands on them…"

"Easy Mr. Barton, let's clear you of this crime first."

Clint grudgingly reigned in his more murderous side as he put his plans for revenge on hold.

* * *

><p>"Who would want to kill me?"<p>

Joey overheard the offhand remark from the brunette beside him and it made him feel guilty for the girl was just collateral damage in this whole mess. "I don't think you were a part of this, the dinner was me and Clint's time, _he's_ the one who…was supposed to have been with me…" he trailed off as he realized exactly what this meant.

"And who would want to kill you two?" Perenna questioned.

"I can th-" Joey paused. "I don't know." He lied and while the brunette didn't look like she believed him, she didn't push it.

In truth, Clint was probably more likely to get targeted as the unfortunate _incident_ had only been to hurt him. And when he'd been inside the man's head he saw that he was still tormented by his 'failure.'

The blond looked up from his lap as he saw a redhead enter the room. "Oh, hi Andrea." He said trying to smile, but it came out more of a grimace. With all that was going on in his mind, he really wasn't in the mood for visitors and speaking o which… "How did you find out where I was?"

Andrea glanced at the brunette and blushed lightly. "I…uh, wanted to see you-to uh, make sure you're okay." She said before taking her hands out from behind her back and showed a bouquet of white flowers, her blush reddening. "I'd actually hoped neither of you would be awake when I came in to give you this."

Joey blinked, suddenly feeling that their budding friendship had taken a suddenly turn down a different route, and he wasn't comfortable at all with it. It was mostly the idea of a relationship he had a problem with seeing how his parent's marriage fell apart, but then again they had already had their problems. But the damage made him wary, though Laura and Clint's relationship had given him some hope of having a stable relationship.

And he wasn't even going to touch upon his conception as he was still trying to wrap his head around _where_ he got all his powers from.

"Uh, thank you, but…" Joey trailed off as he felt another presence prickling at the back of his mind, the stabbing fear from his sister being almost palpable as she tried to contact him. _'What's wrong?_'

* * *

><p>"Isn't this amazing?" Serenity questioned as her friend looked around the lab of Stark Industries in boredom.<p>

"Eh." Blair shrugged nonchalantly.

"How can you _not_ be amazed?" Serenity asked.

Blair crossed her arms as she looked down at the floor with a scowl. "Well I'm not."

"Oh, I take it you're not a fan then?" Serenity asked logically as the reason for Blair's distain for Stark.

The dark-haired girl's scowl deepened. "Why couldn't we have just taken this stupid field trip to the zoo instead?"

'_Guess not_.' Serenity thought flatly before the class moved on towards the test area, the lighter-haired girl noticing Blair's steadily angrier look at every word spoken. "You know, if you keep scowling like that your face will stay that way." She pointed out lightly.

Blair's expression turned into a minor glare as she just looked like she wanted to be anywhere but there.

"Hey, I've got a question; who gets Mr. Starks's stuff?" Syrus asked innocently, but unnoticed, Blair froze in place.

The tour guide seemed confused by this. "Why, Mr. Star is leaving everything to his successor, whoever that may be."

Blair's fist tightened around her arm, the nails digging into her skin and she winced when she pulled her hand back to show the blood on her fingertips.

Serenity saw the scratches and sighed before pulling her friend towards the washroom. "Do you really hate this place that much to hurt yourself?" she chastised as she washed away the blood and when she reached out for a paper towel from the dispenser, her finger was nicked on it. "Ouch!" she exclaimed and sucked on the small wound when they heard screaming from outside the washroom.

Blair peered out of the room and she saw the lab under an attack by large robots decorated with green and silver parts. Most of them were scanning the items, and one of them noticed Blair and the girl ducked back into the room. The girl grabbed Serenity by the arm and pulled her into a stall for safety.

"Blair, what-"

Blair clamped a hand down on Serenity's mouth to stop her from finishing her question. "Shhh!" she hissed and heard the washroom door get blasted off its hinges and they remained quiet after Blair removed her hand.

There was a low humming as the robot looked around the room before it's sensors indicated that there were two adolescent organic females behind the stall and it ripped the door away, eliciting a scream from both girls. It zeroed in on the blood that welled up on Serenity's cut and its sensors found a match, the chances of such a discovery being so very slim that this must be tested further and reached out for the girl.

"I don't think so metal head!" Blair said ducking both her and Serenity out from the stall and they slid under it and ran for the door.

The robot paused and merely shot out a net that caught both girls, the second being inconsequential, but the first girl seemed to be fond of her so she would remain alive and it activated its jets and flew out of the roof.

* * *

><p>A woman sat, the television on the news station, showing the scene of Stark's lab industry having been attacked by Doombots, and while she really wouldn't care, she <em>did<em> though care when it was reported that two girls were missing, one of which being her daughter.

Oh it was times like these she wanted to just lock her daughter in a tower or some other form of confinement so she wouldn't be subjected to the world, but then she wouldn't know how the world _worked_ should she chose to accept the 'family' business.'

Her sister had never been much of a disappointment in their family as Claire graciously and _gladly_ became Blair's adoptive mother. She kept the updated pictures of her daughter every year she grew that Claire would send her and she would marvel at how much Blair was starting to look more like how she herself had _used _to look; the only difference in her daughter's overall appearance had been the brown eyes she'd inherited from her father, and the intelligence she possessed.

The woman moved from her seat and headed over to the cockpit of the privet jet. "Set course for Latveria, it is time to retrieve something that belongs to me."

* * *

><p>Serenity held her head and she sat up, groaning and rubbed her arm, her eyes narrowing at the bandage on her arm. What had happened? Oh yeah, she and Blair had gotten kidnapped by a robot and didn't know where they were. She saw Blair lying beside her, who seemed to have been placed on the bed haphazardly, unlike Serenity who had been placed down neatly.<p>

The girl shook Blair's shoulder as she got off the bed and looked around the room and over to the window, overseeing a beautiful garden and a stone wall. She wondered again where she and her friend were. She grudgingly admitted that it was a nice place, though the beauty of it was downtrodden by the fact she had been _kidnapped_.

"Hmm, where are we?" Blair asked sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

"I have no idea." Serenity admitted and looked away from the window, missing the plan that landed outside. She concentrated and wondered if she could contact Joey from this far away. _'Joey?'_

… '_What's wrong?'_

'_Don't freak, but promise you won't turn on the news.'_ Serenity thought and quickly continued before he could do just that. _'I promise we'll be okay, it's just that we ran into a little problem.'_

_'That always seems to be the reason_.' Joey shot back.

_'Says the one who's in the hospital more times than is healthy.'_ Serenity snapped, but instantly regretted thinking it once she realized how this would sound. _'Oh, I…I didn't mean it like that, it's just that…'_

'_Don't worry, I get it, I really do; even I think it's not healthy for me to be spending so much time in this place._' Joey replied. _'I just hope you make it out okay, seeing as I'm in no position to come save you this time._'

'_Well hopefully I won't need saving._' Serenity thought before the door opened and a robot came in.

"You're presence is required." It said in a clipped tone.

"Why?" Blair questioned.

"Doom's word is law." The robot shot back.

Blair and Serenity exchanged startled looks and realized the severity of the situation they had gotten into. Both awkwardly followed the robot out of the room and down the hall before stopping at the dining hall and saw an imposing figure sitting at the table.

"Sit." He said and both girls looked at each other before walking over to the table. "Not you." He said suddenly as Blair was about to take a seat. "Your mother has come to retrieve you, now go."

Blair saw the door open at the side, leading out into the courtyard, but she wavered as she looked down at Serenity, looking like she wanted to leave, but too terrified to leave her friend behind for an uncertain fate. "Er…"

"Go." Serenity said quietly and Blair froze up slightly. "Really, go." The girl paused a moment longer and though it looked more like she really didn't _want_ to leave, she seemed to scared to really want to stay and managed to walk calmly out of the room, the door closing with a thud, leaving the room in silence.

Serenity twiddled her thumbs in the awkward silence, and wanted to ask _why_ she was still here before the man spoke.

"What do you know about your father?"

Serenity furrowed her brow. What an odd question to ask. "I'm not sure I understand what you're asking me to elaborate on."

"Your _real_ father."

"I don't know who he is." Serenity replied. "His name was blank on my birth certificate, though I understand that my conception wasn't under the best of intentions as my mother only wanted to get back at my step-father for…" she carefully trailed off and decided not to say anything else on the subject, too wary to actually ask why he wanted to know this.

"Yes, and it presented the perfect opportunity for me to conceive an heir."

Serenity was starting to see where this was going, and her questioned came out more like a resigned statement than a question. "What are you saying?"

The man set a paper on the table and it slid along the table over to the girl on its own and she stared down at the results, knowing now what her blood had been for. It didn't surprise her that even this man would have a paternity test done to make sure, as you couldn't be too careful about these things and wondered if Joey would ever have to have a _maternity_ test done.

"_I_ am your father."


	23. Caged

_Flasback/Dreams_

_'Thoughts'_

_"Speaking over the phone"_

"Speaking"

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 22: Caged<strong>

Joey pulled the blanket off him and got off the bed before walking over to the door and frowned when the door wouldn't budge. _'Oh no_.' he thought darkly.

"Hey, are you allowed out of bed?" Perenna asked frowning.

Joey remembered that Perenna had been asleep earlier and played it to his advantage. "Yes, we're allowed out, but apparently not out of the room." Perenna raised a brow, but he just shrugged at her and made his way toward the window.

The door opened a moment later and Doctor Reyes walked in, Perenna sending a smirk over at Joey. "So much for it being stuck huh?"

Joey scowled at her before looking back over at the doctor. "So, gonna lecture me about not walking around?" he asked sarcastically.

The doctor shook her head. "No, you are being discharged."

"Lucky." Perenna muttered, her aunt having wanted the girl to stay another night for observation. Joey was certain though that the girl hated the hospital more than him, and _that_ was saying something.

"Really?" Joey asked and tried not to be excited. "Who am I going with?"

"Get dressed and follow me." Doctor Reyes said handing him a clean shirt and pants.

"Okay." Joey replied and went into the a jointed washroom and came back out 7minutes later and followed the woman out of the room as he saluted a disgruntled looking brunette. "So who's picking me up?" he repeated.

"Your father." Reyes replied.

Joey smiled, thinking that this meant Clint had somehow been cleared as he'd had Clint listed as his father. "Great, where is it?"

"Just up ahead." Doctor Reyes said nodding at the blond man with his back to them at the entrance.

Joey's smile slowly fell as he realized something was very wrong when he still couldn't hear Clint's thoughts and his steps stopped altogether when he saw the graying streaks in the hair and his eyes narrowed as the man turned around. _"You_." He hissed, fear long ago having been replaced by searing hate.

A funny expression crossed Reyes' face and Joey noticed what color her eyes were. He felt his brow furrow and was about to quickly speak up when his old man beat him to it.

"He's just happy to see me." He said smiling in a way that Joey gritted his teeth at. "But then again what do you expect when he's been with that kidnapper all this time?"

Joey felt alarm's going off in his head and it mixed with anger he struggled to control it. "He's not-"

"Let's go son." The old man said grabbing Joey's arm and the younger man started trying to pull his arm away, but the man was physically stronger than him and every time he tried to speak up, the hand on his arm would tighten painfully, forcing him to stop each time.

Joey glared venomously at the older blond and as soon as he was shoved into the car, he tried to get out, only to find that the door had a child lock on it and it could only be opened from the outside. "Damn you." He hissed under his breath, contemplating if bleeding out from trying to smash in the window would be worth it.

"Is that any way to talk to your father." The older man smirked and Joey lashed his fist out, his knuckle connecting solidly with the man's eye. "You little bastard." He snarled.

Joey smirked briefly. "Payback's a bitch ain't it?" he growled before having his hair tugged and his face slammed into the window, the glass not actually feeling like glass as his face bounced off it and his plans of escape were dwindling significantly.

"No pesky guardian here to save you now."

"You better hope Clint never finds you, because he will _kill_ you." Joey growled again. "And I hope he succeeds this time." He hissed. "And if he doesn't, _I will_."

This might have gotten his head smashed down on the dashboard, but he didn't stop smirking as a fire began burning in his eyes.

* * *

><p>"How slim are the chances of being that I was framed?" Clint tried as he scuffed his boot on the cement floor.<p>

"Unless you can prove it, then very slim." Murdock replied.

"I don't even know how that packet got into my belt; I didn't even do much except go home after I let that girl eat my dinner with Joey." Clint replied frowning.

"You were supposed to have eaten the second plate?" Murdock questioned, his bros knitted together in thought.

"Yeah, and earlier at the hospital I was sitting in the waiting room with my friend Nat…" Clint trailed off as he remembered the woman's arms going around him and his eyes widened. "No, it can't be, she wouldn't…" he cut himself off as he noticed that everything outside the cell slowed door and the redhead beside him was as still as a statue. The blond frowned again before he was slammed against the wall behind him and was pinned there by his neck.

"I should kill you now and be done with it."

Clint felt something in his mind stir, like a foggy memory before it was suppressed again and he gasped as was let go and slumped down on the bench. "Then why don't you?" he snapped, though he knew that probably wasn't the best thing to say.

"You know my son."

Clint frowned as he rubbed his throat, his face slightly pale. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Joseph."

Damn it. "Yeah, so? I'm already in jail for something I didn't do, so what's that got to do with this?" Clint snapped angrily and froze when the man's eyes flashed. "And besides, he's your son; shouldn't you_ know_ what's been going on?"

"He was acting…_funny_ at the hospital when his father picked him up." Loki replied as he ignored what Clint said.

The blond narrowed his eyes in incredulity. "You let him _leave_ with that _man?_" he spat before furrowing his brow. "You…you really don't know what happened do you?" he asked quietly.

"Well he's _alive_." The man snapped. "That's all that matters."

Clint grimaced as he tried to figure out how to word what he was going to say next; he really didn't want to end up dead right now. "Joey's been abused…by his father." He said quietly. "He's been since he was 10, and I know for a fact that kid wouldn't go with that man without putting up a fight."

The man narrowed his eyes. "That…cannot be. He told me _you_ were…"

"You've been had." Clint said without thinking and shut his eyes, waiting for the pain before frowning and opening his eyes and looked over at Murdock. "I think I know who framed me, but she…" he rubbed his forehead as if a foggy haze had been put over his yes and he felt like there was another gape in his memory like before. He wondered what he'd spaced out on this time.

"Clint, if you don't want to go down for this, you need to say it." Murdock advised him.

Clint paused as he thought about all the times he'd spent with his best friend, all the times he'd let her into his home and interact with his family. This felt like the biggest sucker punch he'd ever gotten since he was arrested for assaulting Joey's 'father.' "Her name is Natasha Romanoff."

* * *

><p>Joey pounded on the door he was thrown in and had tried several times to set it on fire, the hate being there but he was too angry to properly control it. He looked around the room, not spotting a single window or any other opening he could use to escape. His old man had tossed him into this room and he had no idea where he was.<p>

The teen put his ear to the door and while he could still _use_ his powers, he didn't know who they were out there and couldn't put any specifics on which one it was he wanted to possess out there. At least with the group he had something to focus on other than a name.

And with what Serenity had told him, she was currently out of the country so he couldn't 'call' her, nor could he contact Clint as the connection was still being blocked.

He only regretted not grabbing his cell before he'd been hauled off to the hospital. He was still adamant that Clint _wouldn't_ poison him, and suspected that it had been somebody in the Mansion as everyone _knew_ that Clint ate his dinner with Joey as the teen still refused to stay around the other Avengers longer than it was necessary, if at all.

And they couldn't have possibly known he'd bring someone back with him and Clint's dinner would end up being Perenna's. No wonder Cheshire had gotten so weird, the dog was trying to _stop_ him from eating.

Joey narrowed his eyes as he strained his ears to hear more clearly and could make out one voice as his old man's

"So, now that you have the little bastard, about that payment…"

Payment? Joey had been taken here as some sort of _debt?_

The blond felt something inside him snap.

* * *

><p>"Well this is an interesting little development."<p>

Clint looked up from his cell, Murdock having left earlier to follow up on the possible suspect, which he was still trying to believe himself. The woman had been his best friend, why would she try to _kill_ them? And failing that, _frame_ him for this?

"What are you doing here, Frost?" The blond asked.

"Like I said, interesting." Frost replied crossing her arms.

"What, you came here to accuse me of attempted murder too?" Clint asked bitterly.

"No, and I think that this is completely unfathomable; you wouldn't harm one _hair_ on that boy's head after what happened to your family." Frost explained.

Clint's head snapped up and he glared at her. "You went into my head, didn't you?" he asked accusingly and Frost shrugged. "You're lucky that you're on the other side of these bars right now."

Frost didn't look concerned at the threat. "With your current…_confinement_, I came to question you if Joseph stopped by; he wasn't at the hospital when I went there for his lesson."

"You were gonna make him learn while he was in the damn hospital?" Clint asked incredulously.

Frost rolled her eyes. "Of course." She said like it should have been obvious. "And when I looked around I got found out that he was released into the custody of his father."

Clint furrowed his brow before his disbelief turned to rage. "They let him go with that bastard?" he hissed.

"It would appear so." Frost replied coolly.

"First the Natasha thing now this?" Clint asked rubbing his forehead as he felt a migraine coming on. "That kid just can't catch a break."

Frost looked at the bars in amusement. "Considering where you _are_ Clinton, I think it would be wise to revise what you just said."

Clint made a face. "Don't call me that, I don't even let my teammates call me that, and speaking of them, where the _hell_ are they?"

"So you haven't heard, they're all on some mission or another involving helping the Fantastic Four with Dr. Doom." Frost replied.

Clint looked only mildly interested. "Oh, what happened this time?"

"Apparently his Doombots kidnapped two middle school children, one of them being Miss Wheeler and the other being her little human friend." Frost replied.

Clint briefly amended that the kid _really_ couldn't catch a break with anything and hoped that Serenity and her friend were okay.


	24. Perfect Enemy

_Flasback/Dreams_

_'Thoughts'_

_"Speaking over the phone"_

"Speaking"

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 23: Perfect Enemy<strong>

"He's out? Great, your check will be in the mail once I get back." Blair said into her cell and ended the call before leaning back in her seat on her mother's jet.

"Who was that, Blair?" her mother questioned behind her impassive gold mask.

"My lawyer." Blair said bluntly ad could practically see the raised brow and glanced around to make sure the other 'personnel' wasn't in earshot. "You see, ever since dad had his 'accident' he's been trying to buy my affection with gifts and instead of wearing the stuff; I sell it and keep the money in a box under my bed-" she froze before her voice rose and changed to a more forceful tone-"I mean it's in a bank…guarded by robots."

"And I assumed the reason for this is…?" Whitney trailed off, her voice lit in amusement.

Bair ducked her head shyly. "Well I bitter about the whole thing and wanted to get back at him, and I did this as a show of gratitude for someone saving my life."

"And this was when you were kidnapped by that woman?" Whitney questioned and put a hand to her gold mask's chin. "Hmm, and what exactly made you decide this in the first place, other than gratitude?"

"Well…" Blair trailed off and her face flushed and the woman recognized the look on her face, making her realize that Blair held more resemblance to her before her face got scarred than her father; or in looks anyway. "But how'd you know where to find me?"

"I watch the news." Whitney replied. "I came to get you."

"Oh." Blair paused and her cell rang before she answered it. "Hello?"

"Blair, where are you?" her father's voice rang in urgency.

"So you _do_ know my name." Blair shot back darkly before replying properly. "I'm with my mother."

"You're with Claire?" There was a touch of relief in his voice.

"No, I thought we went over this before; Aunt Claire is 'Mom,' and Whitney is 'Mother,' _Tony_."

"That's…" Stark trailed off and Blair could hear the voices in the back ground before he could add in the mandatory 'father to you' line he always gave her whenever she called him by his first name.

"You're with other people aren't you?" Blair questioned with a frown. "I guess you can't very well say you have a kid." She said bitterly.

"Now listen-"

"No, I've heard enough!" Blair hissed thinking back on the years that he _knew_ about her and couldn't claim ignorance and the final straw had been just _how_ little he thought of her when he didn't let anyone know that she even existed. "You don't know me, didn't raise me, ergo you don't get to talk to me like you _did_, so don't call me anymore." She said ending the call.

Whitney crossed her arms. "I take it that my plan has backfired?"

"Well, seeing as your plan was for me to have a normal life? No, it's still sort of working." Blair replied, being more lenient on her mother because while the woman wasn't around much, she still _tried_ to be a part of her life, certainly more so than her father. "But even because I was angry at _both_ of you in the beginning, at least _you_ explained why you couldn't be around. He just gives us a check and goes back to pretending I don't exist, and get this, _I_ have to go get it because he calls it our 'father-daughter time.'" She snorted and when her phone rang again, she noticed the I.D identifying her father and ignored it.

"And he knows _nothing?_" Whitney asked skeptically.

Blair shook her head. "Nothing important anyway. He doesn't even know when my birthday is, I mean don't you?"

"Dear, I was pumped full of painkillers, I can barely remember the day you were born, let alone even _having_ you, but yes, I did find out when your birthday was. That, and Christmas _is_ coming up." Whitney replied and reached behind her seat, pulling back with a brightly wrapped box. "Don't open it until Christmas, got it?"

Blair looked fairly suspicious. "This isn't anything illegal is it?" she knew her mother didn't involve her or Claire with any of her schemes, but she was suspicious all the same.

"No, it's just a nice present for my darling daughter." Whitney replied.

Blair privately rolled her eyes, but smiled and accepted the present before checking her ringing phone and answered it. "Hey Ren, are you alright?"

"Blair, it's me."

"Dad, how did you get this phone?" Blair questioned with another frown.

"Your friend let me use hers."

'_I think I'm going to have a talk with Serenity when we meet up.'_ Blair thought rolling her eyes.

* * *

><p>Joey blinked as he felt a headache coming on and the last thing he remembered was being knocked out by the door slamming open and nailing him right in the head.<p>

That was one of his more embarrassing moments as he didn't move away from the door after the voices on the other side stopped talking. He groaned and tried to move his hands, but looked down to find his hands tied to a hospital cot rail, pads with wires on them attached to a machine were on his temples, chest and arms.

He looked around and knew that he wasn't in a hospital, the dimly lit room giving that away mostly and knew that this was the place his 'father' had taken him to. He couldn't see anything other than what was within the range of the light above him, the machine beeping in his ears and his hearing picked up footsteps over it before a blond man stepped into the light.

"Hello son." The man said with a mocking smile.

Joey scowled at him. "Don't call me that." He said as the machines and light started to go haywire.

"I always thought there was something…_unnatural_ about you." The man sneered. "You were always a strange one."

"Yeah, yeah, I already know about how you didn't want me." Joey replied angrily. "Now why don't you tell me the rest?"

"Well since you're never getting out of here, why not?" The man shrugged.

_'Never say never._' Joey thought darkly.

"I spent most of my 'time' in the Zodiac organizations 'care' because I couldn't pay off some of the gambling debts I owed them after you burned down the apartment, so when I told them about your…strangeness, they were willing to 'forgive' my debt in favor of handing you over to them-with a nice fee attached so I can lie about where you went."

Joey felt the tear that had form start to widen and the haze that it let into his vision started to worsen. "You _sold_ me?" he asked and felt a strange twist of his lips as he felt his own consciousness start to recede into his mind.

"What else were you ever gonna be good for?" The blond man spat.

The teen dimly realized he was smiling, dark and brittle, before he chuckled, the sound surprising him as his consciousness receded even more into his mind and it merely felt now like he was just watching the actions of another person as the haze took over.

His eyes glared red as he glanced down at the cot rail and the old man was knocked back into the wall and his restraints were ripped off telekinetically.

The teen 'saw' himself rip the pads off and rise to his feet. He moved along the floor and upon 'seeing' his own reflection in the metal door, his now red eyes narrowed and he 'saw' himself ripped the doors open, the sting of the blood staining his hair being more prominent than he thought.

He 'felt' himself glance over at the groaning man and decided to end this right now. Joey 'felt' his body move and while he didn't feel the man was worth it despite his earlier warning, his body moved on its own toward him and he 'felt' his hand rise and a fireball appeared in his hand.

As he brought his hand down, the fireball never met its mark.

* * *

><p>Clint would have been freezing in his jacket if the searing anger wasn't keeping him warm as he got out of his car and headed toward the entrance of the Avenger's Mansion through the snow on the pavement.<p>

He'd come to retrieve his Skycycle after changing, as if he went out as Clint Barton it would raise some questions; at least as Hawkeye he could say it was because of a solo mission his team sent him on. He'd find Joey and make sure he was somewhere safe before going to hunt down Natasha for causing this whole mess.

He'd never thought he'd see the day when his best friend would do such a thing. If he was right, and he still hoped he was wrong, then she really wanted to kill _both_ him and Joey.

When he'd been told he could leave, he overheard them say something about the fact his fingerprints didn't match the ones found on the baggie the poison was in.

After changing, he hurried down the hall to the hangar and slowed to a stop when he heard heavy typing, indicating someone was still here, despite the fact Frost had told him that his teammates had left for a mission. He figured one of them must not have left after all, and the blond looked around the corner to be sure and saw Natasha herself standing there, accessing their files and he crossed having to track her down off his list.

Clint resisted charging in for the moment, furrowing his brow behind his mask as he decided to play this smart. He casually straightened up and made his way into the hangar. He was met with one stinger inches from his face as she whirled around, surprise briefly showing on her face before it was supressed.

"Clint, they let you out?"

"Yeah, prints or something didn't match and they _had_ to let me out." Clint replied smirking as he felt his 'Hawkeye' persona shine through. "So I came here to get my things; gonna go hunting for the one who set me up, wanna come?"

The redheaded woman stared at him with a critical expression, and Clint showed nowhere on his face a tell to let her know that he knew what she had done. It would hopefully just look to her like he was offering a chance to go and catch a bad guy. "I would…but I cannot, I have to man the controls." She said trying to sound apologetic.

"Oh? I figured you'd be out there in the field, Emma said that's where the others were." Clint explained and was surprised when he called Frost by her first name.

"Emma, Emma Frost? The woman that's teaching your 'son' to control his mental ability?" Natasha questioned as her eyes flashed with an emotion that Clint couldn't identify quickly enough for it was only there for a moment.

Clint though couldn't resist a dig. "Yeah, why, you're not jealous are you? I mean, just because we happen to spend some time together doesn't mean anything's going to come of it, right?"

"Yes, _obstacles_ always seem to get in the way, don't they?" Natasha muttered and Clint felt something inside him go cold.

Did the woman see Joey as an _obstacle?_ Is that why she tried to hurt him?

Clint glanced down at the screen and noticed something odd; it looked like an e-mail address and saw that it had a number of attachments. Several of them actually, just enough to make up the Avenger's rooster…

The blond felt his eyes go wide and in the screen, a pair of green eyes locked on his own and he was blasted in the chest with a stinger as she whirled around.

* * *

><p>"I have told the other students that you are not to be disturbed after your ordeal, jetlag must be a problem at the moment." Frost said as Serenity sat on the infirmary cot, no one wanting to take any chances with a student being ill.<p>

"I guess so." Serenity replied in an absent voice as her thoughts were elsewhere at the moment. It wasn't really about her 'rescue' with the Fantastic Four and the Avengers as she was able to leave of her own accord, but before that made her think.

She never given it any real thought about what else she could possibly be able to do, but when she was speaking with her…father, she had begun to notice an odd thing. She'd noticed several silvery 'threads' of a transparent substance emitting from her and while the rest of them spread out into the direction she assumed New York to be in and faded, one of the threads being a troubling red color had her thinking about another certain red string, she noticed a new one beginning to form as she and her father continued to just…talk.

They didn't have any real subject to them other than seemingly trivial things she learned about him; and him about her, the thread grew more until it looked like the rest of them, one of which showed a connection to Miss Frost. She assumed it might have had something to do about relations to other people as there were only a few.

Then there was that red thread she was worried about. What did _that_ one mean?

"Um, is it unusual for a mutant to gain more than one power, if they're e somehow connected?" Serenity questioned tentatively.

Frost crossed her arms thoughtfully. "Why, did it happen?"

"Yeah, I'm starting to see the relationships people have with others, I've noticed several of the 'threads' connected to me end with my friends." The girl replied, purposefully leaving out who her father was as it was still shocking and anyone else would be too and might not react well.

Her 'rescuers' certainly had been shocked when her father casually mentioned that he was merely spending time with his daughter, Serenity being silent on the fact he probably didn't _know for sure_ that she was his daughter when his Doombots kidnapped her and Blair.

Well, Blair by accident apparently as the 'bot had been going for her as the blood on her cut pulled a positive match to their maker.

"Then I guess we'll just have to study a bit harder then won't we?" Frost questioned.

Serenity smiled slightly. "Yes Miss Frost." She replied and suddenly felt down again. "Uh, did you happen to see Joey today?"

Frost's posture didn't change, but her aura was a dull yellow and her voice wavered in slight concern. "Your brother is…otherwise indisposed."

Serenity kept the frown off her face. '_Then why are you so worried? Did something happen while I was gone in just a short time?'_

If the redhead had Joey's omniscience she'd know the answer, but considering what was happening, it was better she didn't.


	25. Shot To Pieces

_Flasback/Dreams_

_'Thoughts'_

_"Speaking over the phone"_

"Speaking"

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 24: Shot To Pieces<strong>

Though Joey wanted to jerk his hand away as the fireball went out midair, he couldn't move it as he was no longer in full control of his body anymore, and he felt himself glance up at the person who stopped him. "Why are you stopping me, he deserves everything he gets for making us suffer all those years!" he heard himself shout and Joey was sure that 'we' meant Joey and this other part of him.

"He does, but _you_ shouldn't be the one giving it." Loki replied as his eyes flashed and Joey started to feel the haze recede.

"What?" he asked and blinked, only to blink again when he found himself back in his room in the Avenger's Mansion. "Uh, how did I…" he trailed off and shook his head, as he was sure that if he tried to understand what had just happened he'd end up with barf staining the carpet.

The blond looked over at the corner as he heard a sudden bark and barely had time to catch Cheshire in his arms before the dog jumped into them and started licking his face. "Hey, what did I saw the first time?"

The dog flattened his ears against his head and Joey relented. "I'm glad to be back too-even if it _is_ to this place." He muttered looking scornfully around at the room. He paused and noticed something was off. "Wait, why isn't JARVIS speaking?" he was sure the AI would have made some type of noise at his sudden appearance before closing his eyes and wondered how much control he had.

Nothing happened, so he must not have been at the 'things will happen if I concentrate hard enough' stage of his technopathy yet. He once again tried to connect with Clint's mind, but that was still being blocked. He did though _wonder_ where Clint was and the answer he received was 'in the hangar' and so he set Cheshire down and after telling the dog to stay put, went to the hangar.

The blond furrowed his brow at the sounds he started hearing coming from the hangar he looked inside and flinched back from the arrow pointed in his face, freezing as Clint froze in place as well. "What?"

Clint glanced up suddenly and dropped his bow as he pushed Joey out of the hangar, a large charge of yellow energy shooting down from the ceiling and hitting Clint, right in the spot where Joey had been minutes before.

"Clint!" Joey yelled and for a horrible moment he thought he was dead before his eyes picked up the slight movements in his limbs. Joey looked up as a redheaded woman landed on the floor gracefully behind Clint. "You? Why would you attack him! I thought he was your friend!" he shouted.

Joey realized that it wasn't _Clint_ Natasha had been aiming for as she trained one of her stingers on his chest. "I missed." She said coldly and fired.

Joey ducked as his eyes widened in surprise, the stinger hitting the wall behind him and Natasha's gauntlets suddenly started to spark, the lights overhead flaring widely in accordance to his mood. He saw the woman kick her leg out and slammed him in the chest and the force of the kick knocked him down, groaning in painful realization that while Natasha used weapons, she was just as deadly _without_ them as well.

The blond rolled on his side and saw Natasha move back into the hangar and to the computer. _'What is she doing?_' he didn't mean for it to be a question to answer so much as just a thought, but he got one anyway. 'She'd sending the Avengers identities to the press.' _'WHAT?'_ he thought loudly and the lights in the hall and hangar all shattered, raining the glass shards around him and Clint.

With the main source of light gone, the computer served as the only light and Joey saw Natasha look over at him, a small smirk crossing her face. "Try as you might, you've failed to stop me."

Joey blinked as she must have thought that him making the lights explode was him trying to destroy the computer so she couldn't send the email. And from what she said it was already gone. "You're gonna ruin their lives for what?" he spat and while he didn't particularly _like_ any of the Avengers, other than Clint, this really shouldn't be happening.

"It's nothing personal, just all part of the plan." The woman replied and started to walk back over. "Though I can't very well leave either of you _alive_ now, can I?" she had glanced down at Clint with a strange sort of regret and Joey suddenly_ knew_.

He'd been only half wrong about Clint and Natasha liking each other.

"How's it going to feel knowing that never once did Clint ever give you what you wanted?" The blond questioned and the woman paused.

Her features tightened. "He couldn't because _you_ were in the way, just like _they_ were." She hissed and Joey felt his chest constrict when he silently questioned about who 'they' were. "And just like them, you have to go too."

Joey felt a different sort of constriction in his chest. This woman had just admitted that _she _was the reason Clint didn't have his family anymore. Anger clouded his vision and despite the pain, adrenaline began pumping in his veins as he sprung up, ignoring the pain and lunged at the woman. _"You murderer!"_ he snarled and the only reason he was able to get a hit was because Natasha seemed surprised to see him get up.

Joey felt a punch hit him in the gut and he dropped to his knees and Natasha smashed one of her knees into his face, and he heard a crack as he landed on his back. Joey felt the tangy taste of his blood seep into his mouth from his nose and knew that it was broken. He spit the blood out and rolled onto his side, only to get kicked in the ribs again and heard more cracking and felt blood seep _out_ of the corner of his mouth, letting him know that he once again had some internal bleeding.

The blond wanted to curl up, but another part of him told him to suck it up and if he beat Sofen, then he could beat this bitch too! Joey opened one eye as he felt his hand curl around something and he saw that it was Clint's discarded bow.

Joey felt a smirk form on his lips and he held the bow in one hand and grabbed the arrow in the other. He honestly didn't care _what_ this trick arrow would do, so long as it did _something_. The teen felt his ribs ache painfully, but he didn't falter as he rolled over onto his back, the bow notched, and _fired_.

The arrow hit Natasha right in the chest, and as she reached for it, the arrow let out a burst of electricity and she collapsed to the floor.

Joey let his hands rest on the floor as the adrenaline wore off and he _really_ started to feel the full effects of his injuries. His breathing felt shallower and it was like he was breathing through a straw. His eyes slowly started closing, and he thought he deserved a few minutes to rest.

Just a few…minutes…then he'd be…alright….

Joey's eyes rolled to the back of his head as he lost consciousness.

* * *

><p>"Hey, have any of you gone to see Joey?"<p>

Yugi looked up at the redheaded girl and shook his head. "Sorry, but we haven't, why?"

Andrea wrinkled her hands together. "Because I went to see him again and he wasn't there."

"You went to see him before? When did you have the time, during lunch?" Tristan questioned, though he'd meant it as a joke, Andrea nodded.

"Well, that's not creepy in the least." Téa muttered, but Andrea still picked it up.

"It's not creepy!" she shouted and her skin started to take on a distinctly reddish tone before she settled back down. "At least I _went_ to see him! And you call yourselves his friends?"

Yugi flinched at her tone. "It's not like we _don't_ care, but…Joey just doesn't seem to be the same person when he's in the hospital."

"Of course he wouldn't be the same!" Andrea snapped as her suddenly vicious outburst a stark contrast to her normally quiet and shy demeanour. It was actually quite scary. "He's in a hospital, do you really think he'd be right as rain?"

"Calm down, Andrea." Yugi said calmly. "Of course no one thinks that."

Andrea glared at him, a reddish tint appearing in her eyes before she stormed off, her face twisting up as she gradually started to feel even angrier. Why couldn't they see that something was wrong? Andrea had felt a connection with Joey and despite the unnerved expression he'd given her, she was sure he felt the same.

He just didn't want to show it because of the other girl in the room with him.

Yes! That must be it, Joey was simply too nervous to admit his feelings! Andrea glanced over at Alexis, who was laughing with Jasmine and Mindy, and thought about the how she could be a problem, Téa too as Joey hung around her.

She'd finally found someone she could _touch_ without burning, and she wasn't going to let some competition get in her way.

Andrea looked down at her hand as it started to take on an angry red glow, like embers on a fire, before clenching her fist. The change was rapidly speeding up and she wouldn't have much time before she was permanently a giant red glow, so she had to act very soon.

Once Alexis and Téa were gone, no one would be in her way.


	26. Real World prt 1

_Flasback/Dreams_

_'Thoughts'_

_"Speaking over the phone"_

"Speaking"

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 25: Real World prt 1<strong>

Joey yawned as he woke up and looked around his room before getting out of bed and running a hand through his hair. He changed into his school uniform and walked downstairs. He smiled at his mother and sister before grabbing an apple out of the fruit bowl and glanced up at the clock. "Better get going, Ren."

Serenity nodded as she put the cereal bowl in the sink, and went to retrieve her jacket. "Kay, bye mom."

"See ya." Joey also called back as he closed the door behind him. He felt the cold air brush against his face as he and Serenity began walking down the street and Joey turned at the corner, but stopped as Serenity called out to him.

"Where are you going, the bus stops the other way."

Joey blinked in confusion for a moment, and then shook his head as he turned on his heel and smiled brightly. "Right, must have just forgotten." He replied as he walked back over to her and they continued walking on over to the bus bench on _other_ side of the way he'd been trying to go.

His sister peered up at him, and Joey felt that there was something missing. Hadn't Serenity worn glasses or something? "You're so weird." She said affectionately.

Joey smiled again. "Yup, that's me." His tone came out surprisingly bitter and Serenity shot him another look but didn't say anything as they waited for the bus.

When the bus arrived, Serenity pulled him up the steps and he barely had time to drop some of the bus fare money into the meter as he was soon dragged down the aisle and sat down into an empty seat behind Serenity and Perenna.

"Hey you guys; how are you?" she questioned smiling at them both.

"Fine." Serenity replied beaming back at her.

Joey nodded his head. "Same here; how's Midtown these days?"

Perenna's smile faded suddenly and a frown formed in its place. "What are you talking about?"

"Midtown, the school you go to." Joey replied and wondered why he was saying this in the first place.

Perenna only shook her head. "You hit your head or something? 'Cause we both go to the same high school, or did you forget that?"

Serenity rolled her eyes. "Don't mind him; he's been acting a little funny, that's all."

"Right, just a little funny." Joey muttered and knew that there was something wrong. He paused in his thoughts; _why_ would he just know that something was wrong?

Maybe it really _was_ him.

Joey remained silent for the ride to school as he merely listened to Perenna and Serenity talk about what they were going to do later, play cards or go to the park. He backtracked; _play cards?_ He didn't get a chance to ask about this as the bus stopped at the front of the school and he and Perenna got off the bus.

"Joey, Perenna!"

Joey looked up to see his approaching best friend. "Hey Yug'." He said smiling and thought maybe there really was nothing wrong.

"Are you coming over to my house later to watch the card game tournament?" Yugi questioned.

"Sure, wouldn't miss it." Joey replied, thinking he was talking about a poker tournament or something similar.

Yugi glanced over at the brunette girl and took a comic out of his backpack and handed it to her. "Here, thanks for letting me read this."

"You're welcome, Yugi." Perenna replied and Joey caught a look at the cover. It read 'Amazing Fantasy 15' and had a picture of a man dressed as a spider.

Joey suddenly flinched as in his mind he saw a girl dressed in a blue and red outfit with a spider design on her chest. "If anything ever happened to Perenna's favorite comic she'd hit the roof." The words came so easily out of his mouth, and they felt _wrong_ for some reason.

This whole thing felt _wrong_.

Perenna punched him in the arm before rolling her eyes and linking hers through his. "You're lucky you're cute or I'd hit you harder."

Joey felt himself smile, despite getting that uncomfortable feeling again; like this was going somewhere he didn't like. Was he experiencing déjà vu or something, cause he'd sworn he'd had something like this happen before. "I guess I am."

"Come on guys or we're gonna be late." Yugi said and they both nodded before heading into the school.

When they arrived in the science class, Joey saw a brunette woman who wore a bit too much make-up and Joey saw in his mind a black-haired woman with green eyes and her hair in a bun before shaking his head again. Okay, this was getting ridiculous.

Something must _be_ wrong with him if he keeps seeing these people that he has no idea about who they are.

* * *

><p>"Ugh, this stuff just isn't for me." Joey said pushing away his tray.<p>

Téa raised a brow. "Really? Usually you're all for it."

Joey realized that if he kept doing this then someone was going to call him mental and that's the last thing he needed in his life; more problems for him and…his eyes widened minutely as he couldn't finish that sentence. Him and-No, there it was again, a name that just escaped him.

"Joey? Earth to Joey!" Was all that was said before Tristan whacked Joey over the head to regain his attention.

The blond blinked and glared at Tristan. "What was that for!" he snarled.

Tristan backed away at the amount of venom in his voice. "Take it easy, man, I always do that."

Joey settled back down and frowned. "Well _don't_." he hissed and for some reason, whether because he didn't want it to happen, he just didn't like getting hit. It reminded him of his father hitting him.

Joey froze in his seat as he backtracked his last thought. His father was _dead_, he remembered his mom telling him so and that he died after he was born, but how could that be? Serenity was a _year_ younger than him, so that wasn't possible as she said they had the same dad, so how-

"Ugh, my head!" Joey exclaimed through his gritted teeth and abandoned his previous thoughts, only then did the hurting in his head go away.

"Joey, what's the matter?" Perenna asked in concern.

Joey knew very well _not_ to tell the truth. "Just a headache, that's all."

He couldn't tell the truth because he didn't know _what_ the truth was.

"Are you still going to be to come over later?" Yugi questioned, though there was still concern in his voice.

"Yeah, can't disappoint my best bud." Joey replied.

That at least, was the truth.

* * *

><p>"So how's that friend of yours, what's her name, Blair?"<p>

Serenity furrowed her brow as she sat beside Joey on the bus, his friend Yugi in the seat behind him. "I don't have a friend named Blair."

Joey frowned as this was probably one of those weird things he was saying again. "Really, coulda sworn you did."

Serenity shook her head. "Nope."

The bus soon pulled up to the stop that was just a block from their house and Serenity rose from her seat. "Be sure to tell mom that I'm at Yug's."

"Sure thing." His sister replied as she got off the bus.

The bus then drove on and Joey leaned his head against the window, looking out at the passing buildings. As his thoughts turned back to the incident earlier, he felt his headache start to return, and that itself was worrying. Why couldn't he remember what he'd been thinking then?

"We're here, Joey." Yugi said shaking Joey's shoulder.

The blond blinked as he sat up and frowned to himself. Did he space or was the ride to his friend's house shorter than he remembered? Eh, whatever. "Coming." He said rising from his seat and following his shorter friend off the bus. They walked into the game shop and up to the upper levels that housed Yugi's living area.

He grinned when he saw the stack of comics. "You sure are a comics geek, aren't you?" he teased.

Yugi reddened. "Am not."

Joey shook his head and picked one of the comics labeled 'The Avengers' up and felt his breath hitch and his pupils dilate and his body froze as he looked at the cover, seeing one of the people wearing an eerily familiar purple outfit. He thought he heard something cracking before he realized it was him gnashing his teeth and he was hit with _everything._

"Clint!"

Yugi looked up startled and looked over at the frozen blond. "Joey, what's the matter."

"This, this is _Clint_." Joey uttered incredulously.

Yugi peered at the cover in the blonde's hands. "Yeah, he's of the Avengers, you want to borrow the comic?"

Joey looked at him sharply, a manic gleam appearing in his eyes. "Why. Is. He. A. _Comic Book Character?"_ he snarled out.

Yugi pulled back, feeling even more startled and a little bit scared. "Joey, I don't know what you mean, but you do know that this is only a _character_, right?"

"Don't say that!" Joey snapped. "He's practically my father!"

Yugi raised a brow. "Joey," he said calmly, "you do know how you sound, right?"

Joey gave him a hardened stare, his eyes dark and angry before he crumpled the comic in his fist and tossed it to the ground. "I'm getting to the bottom of this, I _know_ that Clint's real."

"Whatever you say," Yugi said as though talking to an injured animal, making sure to keep his movements calm, "let me call your mom and-"

"No!" Joey snapped suddenly. "That woman isn't _my_ mother, she's just Serenity's, my 'mother' is-" he stopped and realized just how crazy he was starting to sound.

Not because he knew everything he was saying was _true_ of course, but that this world wasn't his and the people here _didn't_ know this stuff.

He was right all along, there was something _very_ wrong.

His mistake was pausing to go over his thoughts and he saw too late his friend suddenly grab his backpack and smash it against his head, knocking Joey to the floor and he hit his head hard on the floor.

Yugi stared in concern down at his friend before grabbing the phone and putting it to his ear. "Hello, police? I think you need to send a unit to my house, my friends starting to act crazy, he's talking as if comics are _real_ and I think he might hurt himself or others…"

* * *

><p>Joey awoke with a splitting headache and then it grew even worse when he <em>remembered<em> everything. How this wold was not his being at the fore front of his mind and what this place really was.

But judging from the sterile room he was in, he summarized that he was in no place good anyway.

Joey glanced up as he saw the door open a doctor and orderly come in, the second person probably there to restrain him if he got out of control. It felt weird not having his powers and being completely defenseless. "What happened?"

"Your little friend called because he was afraid you were going to hurt yourself or others with your talk of how you thought comic books were real." The doctor replied.

Joey kept his mouth firmly shut on that, not willing to let him say what he knew was the truth. He used the thoughts of the people he cared about, like Clint, Miss Drew, and his _real_ sister to keep him sane in this _insane_ world.

Especially after learning earlier that the card game his friends talked about was actually something called 'duel monsters.' _Ha!_

"He also said how strongly you reacted to the implication that they weren't; people can often create a fantasy world if they experience a particularly jarring childhood, is that what you did?" The doctor continued.

Joey didn't _need_ to create a world of his own, because the real one he lived in was plenty fantastical itself. "I'm not saying anything because I'm _not_ crazy."

"Of course you're not." The doctor replied in condescension, making Joey bristle angrily and clench his fists. The man looked at the orderly. "Get him started on some anti-psychotics and well see how that goes."

The orderly nodded before they both left the room, leaving Joey alone again in the room and the boy sank down back onto the cot and held his head in his hands, not believing that this was happening.

And the worst part was that he _knew_ it wasn't really happening, but he had no control over what was going on in this world _at all_.

The last thing he remembered was passing out after shooting Black Widow in the chest with one of Clint's electrical arrows and then waking up in this world.

So the question was: _what had happened for him to wind up here?_

Was he in some kind of virtual world or a spell? He dismissed the former and gave considerate thought to the latter, simply because the latter _was_ a thing you could actually use. And since just being able to _remember_ the world he was really from wasn't enough to snap him back to his own reality, there must be some other way for him to 'wake up' as it were.

Which led him to another problem; if everything he knew was comic books here, then that meant magic didn't exist here either, so there was no way he could just find a spell to get him out of here. Damn it.

He had no idea how to get back, or even if he could.

And if that wasn't bad enough, he was stuck in this mental hospital; he didn't even need his powers to know _that_, and that getting out was going to be near impossible.

He was _screwed._


	27. Real World prt 2

_Flasback/Dreams_

_'Thoughts'_

_"Speaking over the phone"_

"Speaking"

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 26: Real World prt 2<strong>

Joey sat on the cot, his knees up to his chest and he had an almost permanent frown on his face. He didn't know how long he'd been in the asylum, nor did he really care as he was spending most of his time trying to figure out a way to get out of this place.

He knew it was pointless to try and convince the people here that he was _not_ crazy, but he quickly figured that saying it only made you sound even _crazier_ and he just stopped trying. He wasn't allowed to leave his room because he was a 'danger' to others, or at least that was apparently the impression he gave before Not-Yugi whacked him over the head.

And what hurt the most was that the people in this world, the ones that were 'real' here anyway, acted just like the people from his world. His step-mother was surprisingly nice to him here, but that didn't change the fact Laura would always be more of a mother figure than her because when she was alive she actually _helped _him when he got hurt.

He remembered quite clearly the pain Clint had been in when he was undergoing the emotional torture that made him believe all the self-doubt his subconscious was storing up was _true_. It wasn't because he had no _idea_ that his best friend was going to have his family killed.

In fact, he _still_ didn't know, as Black Widow only admitted it after Clint was out cold and she was beating the tar out of him.

When it was time for his 'therapy' the doctor would try to get him to admit that none of what he believed was real, and while Joey didn't say anything like he so very much wanted too, he still nodded along listlessly.

The action physically hurt him, quite literally as he was stuck with a perpetual headache seeing as he never _stopped_ thinking about his world and that _it_ was the place he belonged. Not here, _definitely_ not here.

Every time he'd close his eyes, he wanted so much to wake up back in his world and get out of this nightmare.

Joey knew that while escape was unlikely, he was still going to try. It was the reason he was currently waiting beside the door to his room with a food tray they gave him and smashing it over the orderly who was going to give him his daily pills over the head.

Joey dragged the man inside before leaving the room and running down the hall. Freedom wasn't even close, but he was getting there. The blond stopped at the corner and peered around it before he kept on sprinting and walked into a room that said 'storage closet' and dug around the clothing pile for some fresh clothes that would help him blend it before a horrifying thought came over him.

Even if he got out, _he had nowhere to go. _

He was adamant that this world wasn't real, and nothing was going to change that, and he'd rather die than live in this world. All the self-loathing thoughts he kept bottled up were released and his hands stopped moving before returning to his side and he left the storage closet.

It wasn't an irrational thought, he could not honestly live in this world; it was all over anyway for him. This world had warped everything he cared about into things that _weren't_ the people he cared about. And Clint, he was one of the very first who ever gave a damn about him, and if this had still been his world, then he could go on knowing at least he had his emotional anchor.

Serenity unfortunately didn't count as while he loved her dearly, they weren't able to see each other much.

Joey walked down the hall, seeing the door that led to the roof and started walking up it. His pace quickened when he heard the rushed footsteps just outside the door and knew that they had discovered he'd escaped. He started to full on run up the stairs when the door opened and he heard a voice yelling for backup about where he was.

The blond reached the roof and just before he could reach the edge, he felt himself getting pulled back. "No, get your hands off me!" he shouted and wriggled in the grasp and was dragged back toward the exit, feeling something prick his skin and he suddenly started to feel drowsy.

'_Oh no_.' Joey thought before falling asleep.

When he awoke later, he found himself in a padded white room, in a _strait-jacket_. How was this to complete the crazy look? Joey banged his head against the wall, feeling the soft padding stop any damage he might have done. This didn't do anything to curb his suicidal desire to get out of this world, it made it _worse_.

He' already freaked out once with trying to let himself die in that fire, and now it was coming back stronger. It didn't matter how 'good' this world seemed or the false memories he had of this reality, it wasn't _his_, and he'd rather have his own reality than this artificial one.

Sure, in his own world his life was awful, but it was still _his_, and not _all_ of it was bad. Serenity, Clint, his real friends, he wanted them back, and if he _couldn't_ have them back, then he'd rather not live at all. Again, it wasn't an irrational thing; it was him finally reaching the edge of his self-worth and desperate to just _end_ it all.

He wanted to die, what happened to him didn't matter anymore.

Joey stood from his spot on the floor before walking over to the door, a dark glint in his eyes as he stared at the one spot on the door that wasn't padded. The window part and the metal surrounding it. He took a deep breath before reeling his head back and slamming his head on the window, feeling it shatter and sink into his skin and blood splatter on the white padding.

The blond felt himself falter, but he slammed his head onto the metal this time and heard something crack and he fell to the floor, a searing pain erupting in his head and he knew that he'd crack his skull. He saw the blood starting to pool around him, the pain was unbearable, and he took slow ragged breaths before starting to feel numb all over and closed his eyes, welcoming the invading darkness.

* * *

><p>Joey's eyes snapped open as if waking up from a horrifying nightmare and he was slammed with everything that had happened in the other world. He looked around wildly, not recognizing where he was, or why he was there, just that he was lying on something hard.<p>

The blond lifted his hand and ran it over his head, pulling it back to check for any sight of blood or brain matter, but he found none. He knew that what had happened in his other world was the dream now. A truly terrifying nightmare that he could've only woken up from by taking his own life.

And the worst part being that he was fully ready to die, and the bitterness in his mouth from the fact he _hadn't_.

Joey sat up gingerly, his muscles not even feeling stiff before looking around him, seeing that he was lying on a stone tablet with symbols carved into the ground, but he didn't know what any of this meant and he honestly didn't think he wanted to know.

He looked down at himself, not really surprised to find himself wearing the clothes he'd been injured in, but by the fact everything that had gotten broken was _healed_. His head wounds, his ribs, _everything_. He felt along his mouth and nose, but didn't feel any blood, and considering that he was his injuries had only been healed up, it meant that someone must have cleaned the blood off of him.

But who'd go through the trouble of taking him away from the Avengers to heal him up? If he'd just been left there he'd have healed back up, presuming he didn't die of blood loss as there would have been no one around for who knows how long. And then there was all that stuff with Black Widow, did she get jailed or what? 'Cause even without what Joey would have said, she _attacked_ Clint and something had obviously set her off before he even got there.

But that led him back to here, wherever 'here' was. Why was he brought he and put into that nightmare world? Okay, he could admit that when he'd been ignorant of his own reality that it had been nice, but it was _fake_ and even subconsciously he'd been trying to tell himself that.

Joey got off the tablet, looking over himself again to make sure he really wasn't hurt before walking out of the circle of symbols and towards the door.

Unbeknownst to him though, when he stepped out of the circle, a magic flare was released and in a moment someone appeared in the room. "So you're awake."

Joey stopped and blinked before a look of recognition crossed his face. _'That voice, I know that voice.'_ He thought before turning around. "The last time I saw you, you stopped me from killing my 'father,' what happened after that anyway?"

"He's been taken care of." Loki replied and it didn't take much of a stretch for Joey to figure out what that meant.

Though that reminded him. "I've been wondering, _why_ did you leave me with him?" he didn't continue his questioned about if he knew what was going on during that time as he didn't want to push his luck with what he could ask.

"Because it would be easier to hide you among millions here than someplace where you could be spotted easily, so I gave you to your father to be raised here, although I didn't quite _expect_ your upbringing to be so…" Loki trailed off, but Joey didn't _dare_ finish that sentence, instead sticking with something he _could _say.

"There are some other questions though, ones that I didn't think I'd be able to ask," Joey began and tried to hold off on the _why he was here in this room_ question at the tip of his tongue, "did you know I'd be born like this?" he paused. "_Where_ was I born for that matter." He muttered to himself as he figured a hospital was probably out of the question.

"No, I didn't expect you to be so powerful as your father was human, nor did I expect you to turn _out_ looking so human either, aside from these," Loki tapped his temple to indicate he meant Joey's eyes, "of course, as amber isn't exactly a _normal _human eye color, so they couldn't _pass_ for human, but it was nothing a little spell couldn't fix."

Joey figured then that since his amber eyes had only shown back up _now_ and he was born with them, then they must have come back when his fire power awakened. How ironic as he'd thought his eyes changing was _because_ of a side-effect of his powers.

"As for your birth, don't you find it a little _odd_ that you're 'sister' was born a mere year after you?" The man questioned.

Joey blinked before his eyes widened. "Are you telling me that Serenity being born to my step-mother was _intentional?_ Not on that woman's part as she _did_ want a child, but the father's too?" he didn't ask who her father was because he wanted to ask her himself, _after_ he had a serious talk with Clint about his growing psychological problems.

And speaking of which again… "Er, thanks for healing me up and stuff, so if you could just send me back to Clint, that'd be great." He said chuckling nervously.

He didn't even wanna _think_ about how long he'd been out this time around. A week, a moth, a _year?_ He didn't know and he dreaded finding out the answer.

"Joseph, I found you lying on the floor _dying_, you're not going anywhere."

Joey slowly started to frown as he came to a startling realization. "You put me into that world, and never expected me to wake up, right?"

"Better you be in a coma where I can keep an eye on you than in constant danger of dying because of that Avenger you like so much." Loki retorted.

"Clint's not the reason I'm always getting hurt though, it just happens!" Joey exclaimed, and found himself back inside the circle of symbols, though when he tried to leave it this time, it felt like running into a wall. "What the?" he said touching the 'wall'. "_Why?"_ he groaned.

So close to going back home, yet so far away.

"Since you're in there, I'll _know_ you're not off trying to get yourself killed." Loki replied. "It'll continue to sustain you like it has this entire time, so you won't starve." He said before leaving.

"No, but I might die of boredom." Joey muttered and sat down on the tablet with an audible sigh and held his chin in his hands as they were propped onto his knees. Okay, he could see _why_ the man would keep him in this place, and if given the chance, he was sure Clint would probably do the same thing, but still, he could've at least been allowed to let people know he was at least still _alive_.

He finally understood though now what 'out of the frying pan and into the fire' was getting at.


	28. Snapshots Special

_Flasback/Dreams_

_'Thoughts'_

_"Speaking over the phone"_

"Speaking"

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 27: Snapshots Special<strong>

_(Or What Happened During 'Real World' For Other Characters)_

Clint came back to consciousness with a pounding in his skull and the memory of Natasha being a traitor, almost shooting Joey, pushing him out of the way as his former friend tried to shoot him and taking the hit came back to him. He snapped his eyes open and looked around to assess what was going on.

He found himself in a cot and recognized the place as the medical wing of the mansion, so that must have meant either someone from the staff found him or the team was back. He found that he wasn't on any I.V or anything keeping him confined so he got off the cot, fully intending to find out what the hell had happened after he got knocked out.

But if Natasha hurt Joey she was going to be dead several times over.

Clint stopped in the hall as he realized that while JARVIS was probably stopped from doing anything, the cameras were mostly _still_ working, well hopefully they were anyway. "JARVIS? You okay now?"

_"Mr. Stark has brought me back online after Ms. Romanov took me offline."_ JARVIS replied, the synthesized voice going a bit hostile over Natasha's name.

"Huh, where is everyone now?" Clint questioned.

_"The staff are cleaning up the hangar of the class shards and blood while the other Avengers are in their meeting room, watching the tape from the hangar to understand what was going on."_ JARVIs replied.

"Thanks, JARVIS." Clint replied as evidently the others also thought of seeing the tape as proof. He rushed into the meeting room as the hologram showed the lights in the tape all being destroyed; making him only guess Natasha had said something to make Joey either surprised or angry.

He watched quietly as his former friend started to beat his 'son' up, the only light from the still working computer making the injuries harder for him to watch. Then his 'son' shot the discarded arrow at her and struck her in the chest, the burst of electricity making the woman fall to the floor.

Any pride Clint held for Joey in that moment was squandered because he was harshly reminded that the younger blond was bleeding out on the darkened floor. A shadow in front of the computer appeared suddenly and Clint's eyes widened as the unseen figure seemed to pick Joey up before disappearing.

Apparently he wasn't the only one who caught it as Stark spoke up. "What was _that?_" he questioned before playing back the tape and enhanced the image of the reflection from the computer screen, Clint not even surprised at what the soon cleared up grainy image showed. "What was _he_ doing here?"

Clint pondered whether he should say anything about what he thought. He just thought maybe Stark would go off on one of his rants about yet _another_ person had gotten by his security, but the man sounded shot that idea down as he looked back at _him_ in annoyance.

"Kid's your son, anything you care to share with the class?" he asked rhetorically. "Maybe something you're not telling us.

Clint hoped that compulsion to speak about things he really shouldn't be saying was gone. "My best friend turns out to be a traitor and my son gets kidnapped in the same day, is this really the time to be doing this?" he retorted crossing his arms, but a sudden thought struck him. "Where _is_ Natasha anyway?"

"She…uh," Janet looked uncomfortable, "she was gone when we got back."

Clint felt his grip on his arms tighten and now he added _'track Natasha'_ back on his list, but 'find Joey' took top precedent at the moment. "Just…great."

* * *

><p>"So, how have you been since the whole kidnapping thing?" Tabitha questioned as she and Serenity sat in the rec. room.<p>

The girl with auburn hair noticed that some of the students were actually a bit reluctant to ask about it, whether it was because one of the adults told them not to or because of common courtesy, she didn't know, though she saw that some of the other students looked interested in her answer now that Tabitha had finally broached the subject.

None of them of course were going to be _told_ that her father was a supervillain and dictator of some foreign country. Though she had to hand it to her mother that the woman must have _really_ wanted to get back at her step-father for getting her step-brother behind her back.

"I've been…fine." Serenity answered carefully, because even though her fellow mutants might not react badly to her paternal relation, she wasn't going to risk being ostracized. "A little bit shocked, but otherwise I'm fine."

"_Why_ did you get kidnapped in the first place?" Tabitha questioned as she furrowed her brow.

Serenity shrugged as she really didn't know. The Doom-bots had been sent to Stark Industries, so they were _there_ for something. And while she was sure her father always _knew_ she existed, he couldn't really have known that her field trip would be there or that she _was_ his daughter as he'd had a blood test done to make sure.

Really, she had no idea what to think as she was too busy being terrified, something that had _not_ lessened even after the revelation she'd gotten.

"Where is she? Is she even here?"

Serenity looked up at the frantic voice in the lobby and she recognized it right away. The girl got off the floor and hurried out to the lobby where Jean was trying to calm down her mother. "Mom?"

The woman rushed over to Serenity and pulled her into a hug. "Oh, you're okay, he didn't hurt you did he?" she asked. "I should've realized he might try something like this, but he said I could keep you!"

Serenity's brain caught up with her as she was practically drowned her mother's despair and worry, creating a dark purple aura around the woman. She also saw the silvery threat connecting her to her mother to show their mother-daughter relationship, but who that red thread connected to was still elusive to her.

"You mean my real father?" Serenity questioned and she felt her mother stiffen, the aura mixing into a dull yellow to show her caution.

"Did…did he tell you?" she asked as her voice cracked.

"He did a blood test, how come you never told me?" Serenity questioned before she was hyper aware of the fact that everyone was watching them and she could _feel_ the surprise in the room. She pulled back from her mother and looked over up at the woman. "Maybe…maybe we should talk someplace else."

Realizing this was not something that Serenity must want to discuss in public, the older woman nodded before looking back at Jean. "I apologize for my outbursts and causing a scene."

"You were worried about your daughter after she was kidnapped; it's actually refreshing to see worried parents." Jean said sadly.

Neither Serenity nor her mother were comfortable on commenting on that, so they quietly made their way outside to sit down on the bench in front. The atmosphere was awkward.

The older woman eventually decided to speak. "I never told you because I never thought you'd find those birth certificates. I should have at least burned yours." She muttered.

Serenity glanced at her, a frown on her face. "Okay, I'll admit that I was kind of freaked out when I learned who my father is, but why couldn't you trust me enough to tell me?"

"I if I told you when you were younger you might have accidentally let it slip to you step-father and while he knew I cheated on him, as I never hid it from it," Her mother said and Serenity figured that was part of the reason for her existence, "and while he was tolerant of you, I never stepped in to stop him from being mean to Joey because he would have gone after _you_."

Serenity furrowed her brow in irritation. "I know that you never liked Joey, but that still didn't mean you have to be so mean to him _yourself_."

Her mother acted as if Serenity hadn't spoken. "I had wanted a child, so when my so-called husband said he didn't want any kids, and then came back with Joey in his arms, I was angry. Even from the moment I saw him I never liked Joey, he wasn't mine, so I had no obligation to help him in any way. Think of me as you will, but I was more willing to protect you than come to the aid of some bastard."

Serenity flinched back as she heard her mother speak, because while she didn't like Joey, the girl did; she grew up thinking that he was her big brother, and even though she knew the truth, it didn't really change anything. She just hoped _he_ didn't think it changed anything.

"You never tried to once help Joey or put aside your pride to see that none of what happened was _his_ fault. How my step-father treated Joey was bad, but you're just as awful because you didn't _even try_." Serenity said, her voice still in its soft tones, but the words were spoken with steel. "I hate you."

The girl got up from her seat on the bench and made her way back into the mansion, but she felt guilt and sadness grip her as she heard her mother crying behind her, but Serenity kept on walking.

* * *

><p>Alexis Rhodes walked towards the girl's locker room for gym class, only pausing to sneer as Téa Gardner stopped at the door to the locker room as well, and the other girl sneered right back at her. "So where's Joey?"<p>

"I don't think that's really any of your business." The brunette retorted coldly. "As I recall, he _rejected_ you."

Alexis tried not to flush at the reminder of the fact Joey _had_ rejected her, but maybe she was being too subtle or he was really just that dense. He thought she was pulling a prank, and he seemed to not like her on principle of her being rich. The blonde _liked_ Joey despite that fact he was poor, he seemed to have that badboy quality about him with how he always got in trouble.

"Be that as it may, he really doesn't seem to like you either." Alexis said.

"Well that's because he's my _friend_." Téa said crossing her arms. "And not even that as he's more Yugi's friend than mine anyway."

Alexis smirked as she stored this information away for later. "I'll be sure to tell him that when I finally wear him down, he can't say no to me forever after all."

"Wanna bet?" Téa asked snidely.

"Excuse me, but _neither_ of you is going to be with Joey." A new voice hissed and both girls looked over to see shy Andrea Rourke looking not so shy anymore and pissed at them.

"Whoa, calm down Andrea." Téa said raising her hands in placation.

"Yeah Rourke, take a chill pill." Alexis said. "Besides, why would Joey want a little wall flower like you anyway?"

Andrea glared at the blonde and Téa started to back away as she saw the girl's skin start to turn red, and it was _not_ just because she was angry. "Joey," she said lashing both hands out and grabbing both the blonde and brunette by the wrists, causing both girl's too gasp at the fact her touch was scorching, "is. _Mine_." She snarled and threw both girl's into the locker room.

Alexis looked down at her wrist, and paled at seeing the red, ugly welts on her wrist and looked up at the red head fearfully as her _skin_ was nearly as red as her hair at this point. "What…what are you?"

Andrea stared down at her tormentor, feeling a rush of exhilaration at the fact she was the one causing the fear. "Your worst nightmare." She said smirking and reached for Alexis' face, fully intending on burning up that pretty face.

"Hey, freakshow, pick one someone your own size." A voice shouted and a bag was thrown at Andrea's head.

The redhead looked over at Téa, who while still looking quite terrified, also looked angry. "You hate her." She stated, truly befuddled by _why_ the brunette was even bothering with trying to protect the blonde.

"Yeah, I hate her," Téa said without bothering to deny it. It was only then here and it was no secret. "But she doesn't deserve to _die_. I'd settle for her committing social suicide, no _actually_ ending up dead."

Andrea paused briefly, before she grabbed Alexis by the hair, the smell of singed hair creating a disgusting scent in the air. "Your damnable attitude always did piss me off, acting like your so much better with your smug holier-than-thou smile." She hissed glaring over at Téa. "After I get through with Alexis, your next." She said looking back down at the whimpering blonde. "Not so tough now, are ya?"

Alexis winced as she was thrown against the wall and felt her head smack against the concrete, and she laid limp on the floor. Andrea smirked and started advancing on the form, feeling her hands heating and a ball of flame appeared. She stared down at the ball in surprise, but grinned and reared her hand back, though it never made it past that as Téa used a can of hairspray to spray at the ball and it shot a flame toward the ceiling and the smoke alarm went off before the sprinklers came on.

Andrea felt her skin sizzle as the water hit her and she growled before rearing back her hand again and backhanding Téa in the face with enough force to send the brunette stumbling down onto the floor and clutched her burning cheek. The redhead fled through the doors as she heard the footsteps rushing through the hall.

This attempt may have failed, but she was going to get rid of them if it was the last thing she did, because Andrea had found someone she could _touch_ and she wasn't going to let him go.

He was _hers_ and she'd kill anyone who said otherwise.

* * *

><p>Blair looked around at the lobby of the Avenger's Mansion. She didn't know why she even bothered to come here, but her aunt told her that it never hurts to be nice to your parents because they still <em>are<em> your parents. Claire even told her about the fact she still sent her own father a Christmas card each year though they didn't talk much, if at all.

That didn't exactly inspire Blair to go out of her way for Stark, but she saw _some_ merit in what Claire was saying at least. Even if this made her look like some petulant brat because of yelling at Stark about not speaking to him, the girl was willing to go with the punches for her adoptive mother. Even if it meant actually _apologizing _to him, as she was _not_ too proud to apologize.

And this would at least distract her from that box her mother gave her.

But to be honest, she _was_ surprised how no one knew about her despite her previously angry view on this. Blair walked to the elevator and when she arrived at the top floor, she heard voices in the meeting room and knew better than to waltz in, so she just peered around the corner of the door and saw her father talking to his teammates, about Joey being kidnapped.

Blair wondered if this was a common occurrence as none of them looked particularly surprised about this, only Joey's dad did. She felt a pang of envy as she remembered how close Clint and Joey were, spending time together like how a _real_ father should. The girl had acknowledged a while back that she clearly wasn't going to have that kind of relationship with her own father.

She saw her father notice her, but couldn't really acknowledge her presence without giving everything away, but hadn't that been why he never spoke about her? Blair was just a really angry and confused little girl about all of this that she wondered why she even bothered with any of this.

She was supposed to be smart, but intelligence wasn't really worth much when dealing with your own emotions, and those too complicated to try and explain in a scientific sense.

Blair moved away from the door and waited for everyone else to leave before walking into the room. "So, how are things?"

"Thought you weren't talking to me?" Stark replied and crossed his arms.

Blair flushed in embarrassment. "Well I wasn't _planning_ on it," she retorted and crossed her own arms, "but I thought you might want to see for yourself that I'm alright."

"See, you can't hate me if you still come here." Stark pointed out.

Blair stared at him with a deadpan expression crossing her face. "Dad, I don't know what to think of you if you give me the time of day."

"Yeah well, you never gave _me_ the time of day either." Stark retorted.

"Okay, now this is just starting to get childish." Blair replied sighing. "I know that even though you _have_ gotten somewhat nicer the bastard you were before, it still feels like you're trying to distance yourself from me; the only difference being you never wanted to see me _period_ before." She explained and her voice lowered softly. "It's just really hard for me to believe that you want anything to do with me now after you completely ignored me even when you knew I existed."

"You're not going to start crying are you, cause that would be awkward." Stark replied nonchalantly.

Blair felt her temper rise and she scowled at him. "Here I am telling you how I feel and starting to open up and you treat it like a _joke?!"_ she snarled. "_I hate you!"_ she said storming out of the room.

Really, why did she even _bother_ trying to talk to him?


	29. Who Can You Count On?

_Flasback/Dreams_

_'Thoughts'_

_"Speaking over the phone"_

"Speaking"

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 28: Who Can You Count On?<strong>

"So, are you nervous? 'Cause I'm totally okay with leaving if you are." Blair said as she sat on the hospital bed Serenity, but she never asked how the girl was able to pay for her eye operation.

And if Blair knew beforehand that Serenity even _needed_ an operation she would have been willing to help out, because she took care of her friends. Well, what little friends she had anyway.

Serenity circled the bed sheet under her as she shook her head. "Of course I'm nervous, and of _course_ I don't want you to leave. Not until they kick you out anyway." She said smirking, but it faded the next moment. "Uh, no one _else_ is here, right? Because aside from…" she trailed off as she was about to mention telling the adults at the Institute, she remembered that Blair didn't _know_ she was a mutant. "Just…no one's here right, since I didn't tell anyone but you."

Well, that was a lie, but she couldn't correct herself just yet. Not until she was certain Blair wouldn't freak out on her at least.

The dark-haired girl blinked. "Um, no. But why _didn't_ you tell your mom you were having this operation anyway?"

"We had a fight." Serenity said softly. "I told her that I hated her after we tried to talk."

The other girl stared at her, before she chuckled bitterly. "Well isn't this just a cruel irony, I told my dad I hated him too after trying to talk to him." she replied and paused. "Wait, if you're mom doesn't know about this, then who authorized this procedure for you?"

Serenity bit her lip and clutched the sheet in her fist. This was the moment she'd been waiting for. It was time to see if Blair was willing to still be friends with her despite who she was related too. "My father did, my…my _real_ father."

"You mean you're divorced dad isn't your dad?" Blair questioned and Serenity shook her head and she gaped. "Well this just keeps on getting _better and better_ doesn't it?" she asked and the auburn-haired girl looked at her strangely. "My mom isn't my actual mom, she's my aunt."

"No way." Serenity whispered. "But then who…?"

"My father is…" Blair grimaced, her expression that of someone swallowing a lemon, "…is Tony Stark."

Serenity's eyes widened, but then she looked thoughtful. "It…would explain why you didn't like going to his company." She said. "How do you he's your dad though?"

"I'm assuming that my mother got a DNA test done somehow, cause it's not like his DNA's particularly hard to get." Blair deadpanned, though Serenity grimaced. "But…I just hope you don't hate me with what I'm about to say next. My mother is Madame Masque."

"You mean the supervillain?" Serenity inquired and Blair nodded grimly. The redhead blinked, awestruck by the trust her friend had in her, and by the coincidence that she actually had more in common with her friend than she ever thought. "Well," she said shyly, "you're not the only one with a supervillain parent as it turns out."

"What do you mean?" Blair raised a brow, but comprehension crossed her face when she thought about it. "The bandage on arm is because of a blood test too isn't it?" she gasped and looked around quickly. "You mean you're dad is really-"

"Yes." Serenity interrupted quietly.

"So he's the one paying for this operation then?" Blair questioned and her friend nodded. "Because you wanted this or he's making you get it?" she persisted as a protective edge crept into her voice.

"Sort of both really." Serenity shrugged. "We got talking after you left, and I was so terrified I just sort of babbled and it came out. Really, with how much I was talking I was surprised he even caught that." She bit her lip again. "Uh, you're on good terms with your mother right, like it is possible to have _some_ sort connection?"

"I am; it's my _dad_ I have issues with." Blair replied.

"Well it's my _mom_ that I take issues with." Serenity said. "I don't _want_ to hate her, but she's kept so much from me. My father not being father, that fact I was born to get back at my dad for cheating on her-"

"Wait a sec, does that mean your brother's not your brother?" Blair paused. "You're _blood_ brother I mean?"

"He's not." Serenity replied dejectedly. "Over all the fighting and yelling, he was the one good thing I had growing up before my parents divorced. My mom told me Joey was born because my step-father cheated on _her_ first."

"And I thought my family was messed up." Blair said darkly. There was an awkward paused before she cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Uh, how is this operation supposed to go anyway?"

"Well, they told me that this was a tricky thing and there was only a fifty-fifty chance of success that it would fix my eyesight, but you can imagine how they were convinced to make it _100_ percent?" Serenity explained and Blair nodded. "I'll be staying in here for most of December, so I might actually miss out on Christmas holidays, but so long as the first thing I see when I take off these bandages is my Joey, I won't mind."

Blair bit her tongue to keep from saying anything. She had contemplated telling Serenity that her brother had been kidnapped apparently, but why worry her? In fact, if she told her friend _now_, it could end very badly. But if she held it off, there was a chance that Joey would be rescued and there would be no need to make Serenity have worried.

Before she could come to a decision, there was a knock at the door and Blair looked over at the newcomer, an older boy with short _blue_ hair (an obvious dye job was her first thought upon seeing it) and green eyes wearing one of the candy stripers uniforms, with several stripes already on it. "Yes?"

"Sorry to interrupt," The cute boy said in a southern accent and he really did look sorry, "but the doctors said their ready to proceed, and that you'll have to leave now miss."

"Thank you, uh," Blair squinted at the nametag on the uniform, "Jesse."

The teen smiled at her. "You're welcome miss." He said before ducking out of the room.

Blair looked over at Serenity and hugged the girl. "I'll be back tomorrow, if you're up by then, promise."

Serenity hugged Blair back. "'Kay, and thanks for being so understanding."

The dark-haired girl smiled bitterly. "Hey, if we can't count on each other then who can we count on?" she questioned before sliding off the bed and made her way to the door.

* * *

><p>"I can't believe Andrea did that to you." Yugi said staring at the red welt marring Téa's face and on her wrist. The brunette had missed school to make sure that there was nothing else wrong.<p>

The girl gritted her teeth. "Doctor said Alexis and I were lucky, considering the damage Andrea _could_ have inflicted on us."

"What made her so crazy anyway?" Tristan questioned.

Téa stared at them both grimly. "She was talking about how Joey was _hers_ and she planned on killing us because she thought we both liked him."

"That's crazy itself," Tristan said snorting, "Joey can barely stand you."

"That's what I-" Téa said and paused before her face scrunched up indignantly. _"Hey!_"

Yugi kept the conversation on what was really important at the moment. "She sounds very unstable now, if she tried to even _kill_ you for just being his friend. What was she going to do to Alexis?"

"I thought she was going to burn her face off." Téa said shuddering because while she certainly didn't _like_ the blonde, she stood by what she said about no one deserving that. "And that's because she actually _does_ like Joey, but he's-thankfully-too dense to realize it."

"Wait, if Andrea ever finds him that blindness might not be such a good thing." Yugi pointed out. "She could seriously hurt him if he didn't want anything to do with her, and she'd be able to get close enough to him because he still _thinks_ she's his friend. And none of us even know where Joey is now."

Tristan shook his head, and spotted the T.V over by the desk and figured seeing what was on would be able to get rid of the atmosphere of dread. "Uh, let's see what's on." He said and pressed the button, only to be greeted by the sight of a news anchor. "Dude, you watch the _news_, why would you want to watch this?"

Téa scowled at him. "It's to keep me up to date on things." She said crossing her arms.

_"….we have breaking news, viable evidence of the identities of the Avengers brought to you by an unknown source."_ The newscaster said before several pictures showed up.

If any of the three were drinking right now they'd have spit it out in surprise. "Holy cow, isn't that Joey's dad!?" Téa shouted incredulously as a picture of Clint appeared on the screen.

"You think Joey knew his dad's a superhero?" Yugi questioned aloud, his eyes still wide with disbelief.

Tristan blinked and chuckled wryly. "Well if he didn't he's certainly gonna know now."

* * *

><p>"Holy crap!"<p>

"Watch your language!" Claire admonished sternly, but couldn't keep her own surprise out of her voice.

"Sorry." Blair said absently as she sat beside her aunt, staring apologetically down at the carpet where she had spit out her drink when the news came on. "You know; if I had known that this was going to happen I'm actually kind of glad dad didn't tell anyone about me."

"So you no longer hate him then?" Claire questioned.

Blair glanced over at her. "I didn't say that, just that I'm glad he didn't tell anyone if the media frenzy that's going to happen is any indication."

"Care-Blair, he's still your father." Claire insisted.

The dark-haired girl stared at her adoptive mom for a moment before sighing. "I told him I hated him yesterday, and he's not going to want to see me right now with what's going on."

That and she was pretty sure that they were going to be busy trying to find Joey if how angry Clint looked was any indication.

* * *

><p>"Well, this is certainly an interesting development."<p>

Clint looked up darkly from the map he was looking at to the blonde woman in the doorway. "How did you get in here? I thought there was a media circus outside the gates?"

"Persuasion." Frost said smoothly. "Now where is Joseph, it is time for our lesson."

Clint narrowed his eyes and his unpleasant thoughts made Frost 'tsk tsk' mockingly. "No, he's not here, he got kidnapped." He said and didn't bother blocking his thoughts about who and why. Well, the why being only speculation on his part, but it _was_ very strong speculation.

"Aw, it would explain why he seemed to keep showing up, but it would appear as though _your_ memory has also been modified." Frost replied.

"What?" Clint questioned suddenly and remembered Joey asking him panicky over the phone if he was alright and how he couldn't answer because he didn't _know_ what he was supposed to remember, and then when he was talking with Murdock he couldn't seem to remember. "Can you fix it like you did with Joey?"

"I could, but it would be much more damaging as your mind was not gently as modified as Joseph's was." Frost explained.

"I get the feeling I'm alive is only because Joey likes me." Clint muttered. "But now he's gone; so any ideas where he might be?"

Frost raised a brow, but with her previous associations before becoming an X-Woman she should not have been surprised he'd ask this. The blonde looked down at the map before pointing at a spot and tapping it. "You could try here; it's the safest bet anyway."

Clint stared at the spot Frost was pointing at and felt his lips thin. '_Of course she'd point to Latveria of all places.'_

* * *

><p>Joey realized something as he stared up at the ceiling, his powers were not working.<p>

He really should have suspected that they weren't, but now that he was actively trying to use them, he found he was totally unable to use his Know-It-All ability to find a way to get out. The blond was stuck in a confinement of some kind without anyway to contact the outside world, and this was supposed to be a _good_ thing.

Sure, he could see how some of his tendencies could be mistaken as suicidal, like foolishly fighting Sofen or trying to take on the Black Widow, and the only reason he beat them both times was because of pure luck. Well, with Widow it was because of luck, he only beat Sofen by letting her indulge in her pedophilic tendencies.

If she was _always_ like that, he suddenly grew a lot more sympathetic to her previous victims that she made crazy.


	30. Breaking Point

_Flasback/Dreams_

_'Thoughts'_

_"Speaking over the phone"_

"Speaking"

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 29: Breaking Point<strong>

Andrea pursed her lips as she stared at the broadcast; it was just her luck that the man she'd seen Joey leave with in the beat up car was not only his father but a _superhero_ too. This would make getting closer to Joey difficult because of this, but it was an obstacle she would overcome nonetheless.

She knew that if she tried to kill Clint, Joey would be angry at her. This wasn't like with her planning on killing that self-righteous bitch Téa or that idiotic princess Alexis, Joey didn't _care_ about them, but this Hawkeye was his dad and he _did_ care about him. Andrea felt a pang of jealously rise in her and she felt her skin start to turn red again after all the work she did to calm herself down.

But she was in her room and no one was around right now; her parents both too busy to spend any time here anyway.

Briefly she considered that her strong attachment to Joey was because he not only became her friend, but that he willingly spent time with her and even stood up for her. And she could _touch_ him without ever having to worry about hurting him. Yes, he was perfect for her, and she wasn't going to let _anyone_ stand in her way.

Even if that meant taking out everyone else in his life to keep him with her. He was _hers_ after all; he just didn't know it yet, but she was sure he'd eventually come around to her.

* * *

><p>Serenity felt consciousness return to her little over an hour ago and she was already growing antsy. It wasn't that she would have to wear this bandage over her eyes for two weeks, but that this procedure wouldn't <em>work<em> and she'd be worse off than before. Even if Doom had 'convinced' the doctors to _make_ it work there wasn't any real guarantee.

Though even if it didn't work she knew it wouldn't be _her_ paying for it. Well, optimistically it wouldn't be she hoped.

Serenity reached out to the desk she'd seen beside her with a remote on it, but gritted her teeth when she couldn't feel it connect with her hand and she sighed before pulling it back. She was tempted to use the service button, but didn't want to bother anyone.

The door to her room opened and the girl looked up curiously; was Blair coming to see her? "Blair?" she asked throwing it out there.

"Sorry, wrong name." A male voice answered and Serenity thought it sounded familiar, but realized the only time she heard it was when he was on fire on T.V.

"You're that Johnny Storm guy, right?" Serenity questioned.

Though she couldn't see it, she could easily imagine a grin on the male's face if his tone was anything to go by. "So you've heard of me then huh? But then again who hasn't?"

"Actually, no." Serenity deadpanned. "What are you doing here anyway? Because you _must_ be aware of whom I am."

The sound of a chair scrapping across the floor told her Johnny must have dragged a chair over to her bed. "I am," he replied, "and I marvel at your existence that Doom actually has a kid. Was your mother desperate by any chance?"

Serenity would have rolled her eyes, but Johnny couldn't see it and he still hadn't given her a reason for being there. "She was just petty," she muttered, "and you're here because…?"

"Oh right, I'm here because I know Doom wouldn't like me being around his daughter, that's why." Johnny replied flippantly.

Serenity stared up ahead since she didn't know where the guy was sitting. "So you're here to only make my dad angry?" she asked blankly and wondered if she should be offended or not.

"In a nut shell, pretty much," Johnny admitted, "but think of it like this; you get to hang out with Johnny Storm, my fans would kill to be in your place."

Serenity really did roll her eyes and her voice was still flat. "I'm bursting with joy at the thought."

* * *

><p>Joey stared up at the ceiling, feeling as though the room was closing in around on him, or was that just him starting to go stir crazy? It felt like he'd been stuck in this prison, er, <em>spot<em> forever. He didn't feel the need to eat, or even sleep really as when he closed his eyes he'd end up back in _that_ world again.

That place had started off as being a perfect world for him. There was no trace of his abusive father in it, no Kaiba either. But there also wasn't any trace of Clint or Jessica, just them being comic book characters. So what good was that world to him if it didn't have _all_ the people he cared about?

There really was nothing to do but stare up at the ceiling and try to think of a way to get out, but he had no experience with magic, so he really couldn't try and find a weak spot in the circle if he tried. He sighed and rolled off the slab to the floor, frowning somewhat as he saw a line on the slab.

He felt his heart beat speed up as he allowed himself some faint hope that this creak meant what he thought it meant. If this wasn't _Loki's_ secret lair and he was just being stashed here, there might be some way for him to get out after all. He berated himself for giving up so easily and pushed on the side of the slab, the concrete heavy, but he felt it budge, and that was enough to get him o keep pushing.

Joey shut his eyes tightly as he felt his muscles strain and burn, but let out a gasp or relief when he felt the weight of the slab hit the floor and he stared down into a staircase that led downwards. He briefly contemplated against going into the dark abyss, but figured if it meant he could use his powers to contact someone, then it would be worth the risk.

The blonde moved onto the staircase and made his way down the steps, a glow coming from further down and he soon came to the outside, the glow having been sunlight. He stared out at the forest around him and figured he had been in a tower, taking the time to look up and see that yes, he had been. He wondered where he was before he felt relief when he received his answer, though because of the answer his relief was short-lived. '_Latveria, I'm in damn Latveria?!'_ he thought incredulously, before shaking his head and making his way into the forest to see if he could find a boat of some kind. _'I'd rather be out here than in there._' He added.

The blond paused as he realized that if his omniscience was working, then his "oneness" was also. He could call for help! But, there was still that block with Clint so he couldn't call him, nor could he call Serenity as he didn't want to get her involved, so that left one person. He concentrated on speaking with Miss Frost and tentatively spoke. _'Miss Frost? Are you there?'_

There was no reply, and Joey felt any hope he had starting to fade, but he blinked in shock when he eventually _did_ get a reply. _'Joseph? Have you been practicing with long-distance communication?'_ There was a certain disapproval in Frost's thoughts and Joey winced when he realized that she told him _not_ to do this.

But then he also realized she'd probably only said that because of who _he_ had expressed trying to communicate with when he was still in the dark about his parentage

_'Given the circumstances I thought bending the rules would be necessary.'_ Joey retorted. '_I'm on Latveria, can you believe that?'_

_'Actually I can.'_ Frost replied. '_That's the location I gave to Clinton about where you may have been hidden. He is very worried about you, especially with what's been going on recently.'_

_'What'd I miss exactly?'_ Joey thought and wondered what _could_ he have missed in what…2 or 3 three days? _'Eh, I'll deal with it when I get back to America._' He paused in his train of thought. _'Wait, how am I supposed to get back? I may not be up to date on things, but couldn't Doom treat any of you coming here like an act of war? This sucks, I really am stranded here!'_

_'You need not worry, Joseph.'_ Frost thought in what Joey assumed to be reassurance. _'You are one of my pupils, and I take care of my students. You will be back in America before the day is out, mark my words.'_

_'If you can manage that,'_ Joey thought in disbelieving gratitude, _'you will officially be the most awesome teacher I've had.'_

Jessica didn't count as she was one of the most awesome _sisters_ he had.

* * *

><p>Frost was about to leave after getting done her mental conversation with Joey when picked up the thoughts of someone who should <em>not<em> belong there. It was the traitorous Black Widow, the one every superhero should be on the look-out for and it seems the woman had come _here_. But for what reason? Frost skimmed the thoughts at the surface of the redhead's mind as she was sure the other woman would be able to detect a deeper intrusion.

The thought of killing her was at the forefront of Black Widow's mind as the memory of Clint calling her Emma flashed by, followed by a feeling of rage and jealously. So that was the reason she was here; even though there was nothing between her and Clint, the redhead seemed to want to make sure nothing stood in her way and planned on tracking Joey down and killing _him_ to get him out of the way.

Frost would have marvelled at the single minded focus this woman held if not for the fact she was currently stalking her to kill her. In fact, she would have also found it somewhat amusing to think she could _sneak up on a telepath_, but she didn't find it very amusing right now as she had no time to play games.

It was best to end this before it started. She couldn't kill Widow because there was a _reason_ she was doing all this in the first place; a mission of some kind that she may have information on. She heard the hum of stingers just before the electricity shot at her and she turned into her diamond form, the blast deflecting off of her.

Frost turned around coolly staring at the redheaded woman's carefully blank expression, but the remnants of rage was in her eyes. "Did you really think you could sneak up on me? How stupid do you think I am."

The woman didn't answer, but her thoughts spoke for her, and they were anything but pleasant. All Widow did was blast another stinger at her and run at her, jumping over Frost and grabbing a hold of her arm and using her weight to throw her over her shoulder and onto the ground.

"What good is you form or strength if you cannot use it?" The redhead said darkly.

Frost's own expression didn't change as she stood back up, un-fatigued. "And what good are you as a spy if you cannot get the attention of the man you want?" she retorted.

The careful face cracked a smidge and Black Widow kept shooting at her, aiming for that molecular flaw that would send Frost shattering to the ground. She got close enough again and tried flip her over, but the diamond formed woman slammed her into the ground and contemplated making her way back to the mansion quickly.

She wasn't that far away, but Widow could escape and she didn't want that to happen. Frost slammed Widow's head into the ground and the redhead's head fell limply to the side. She paused to change back to feel for a pulse because she couldn't feel anything in her diamond form, but Natasha's eyes snapped open and she grabbed Frost before dragging her down and began punching her in the face.

Momentarily stunned, Frost couldn't do anything for a moment before regaining control of herself and turned back into a diamond, hearing a satisfying crack as Natasha punched at her face again, breaking her hand in the process. Frost got a punch in herself and sent the redhead flying into the air, and when she came back down, the woman made _sure_ Black Widow was unconscious.

Satisfied herself, Frost grabbed Natasha and dragged her back to the mansion, SHIELD could have the traitor _after_ Joey was retrieved. A group of students stopped as they watched Frost drag her downed opponent in, only Tabitha being brave enough to speak up.

"Uh, Miss Frost, what's going on?" she asked somewhat nervously.

Frost smiled, though it was barely noticeable because of the diamond structure of her face. "It's quite alright Boom-Boom, I'm merely taking care of the trash, this is the woman who leaked the Avenger's identities after all." She said and thought that could quell any of their misgivings about what she was doing right now.

Now she just needed someplace secure to keep Widow in and then she could be on her way.

* * *

><p>Clint stared down at the dog, who didn't even growl at him as it lay on its stomach, the tail tucked underneath him. He knew dogs <em>could<em> feel certain emotions, but depression certainly wasn't one of them, making him think that this dog really wasn't normal. "Yeah, I miss Joey too."

Cheshire's eyes merely flickered to him before letting out a whine, showing an oddity in behavior as he didn't even snap at Clint's fingers when the blond put the food in his dog bowl.

"Clinton, moping with the dog? Have you given up hope so easily?" A cool British voice said.

Clint feels his temper rise as he glared up at Frost, but reeled back at the red marking marring her face, looking very much like a grinder had a go at her. That was definitely gonna bruise. "What happened to you?"

Frost waved dismissively. "Ask later, _after_ we retrieve you son."

"But we don't even know if he _is_ at Latveria, and even then we can't go get him cause that's _Doom's_ territory." Clint retorted.

"I don't know why Joseph could have had problems, but he contacted me mentally, maybe you weren't available or what not, but he _is_ at Latveria and we _are_ going to get him." Frost said steadily, managing to keep the frustration she must have had with him out of her voice.

Then again, if Frost could put aside her annoyance with him, then Clint supposed he could do the same. "Alright, how do we do this?"

"I may not be 'bad' anymore," Frost said smiling lightly as Clint resisted the urge to snort, "but I do still have connections."

Clint stared at her incredulously. "You're gonna get Doom's _permission_ to go get Joey? Connections or not, I don't think he's gonna slide on this."

Frost didn't look too concerned. "It's no trouble, I teach his daughter." She said simply.

"What the hell?" Clint asked in disbelief. "Doom's got a kid?"

"Again, not important right now." Frost said before pulling Clint back up onto his feet. "Now let's go get to your jet, as I'm sure your other vehicle isn't up to par to carry three people."

Clint rolled his eyes before following her out and they both made their way into the hangar. They board the Quinjet, but he hears someone calling out to them to stop. He knows it's Stark, and as much as he's tempted to leave right now, he can't unless he wants to be even _more_ obstacles between him and finally getting the adoption through. He looked down and crossed his arms. "What?"

"Where do you think you're going with my jet?" Stark retorted as he crossed his arms as well.

Clint narrowed his eyes momentarily before rolling them. "To get Joey from Latveria, that's where he's been stashed." He deadpanned, but even now he refused to tell any of them the _reason_ Joey got snatched in the first place. Not that they were really asking after that one time in the meeting room.

"What?" Stark questioned, looking at me like _he_ was the idiot. "Are you crazy? I for one am up for a rescue, bur even we can't just go over to another country without warning!"

Frost walked back to the hangar door, but kept out of sight less Stark see her face. "That is where I come in, Stark." She said coolly. "Joseph is my student, and I take care of my students." She said firmly. "I will deal with the repercussions should they arise."

Stark blinked, thinking for a moment whether this was a good idea or not, but Frost _did_ say she'd handle it. Finally he just waved them off. "Don't damage the jet." He said before turning on his heel.

Clint and Frost looked at each other for a moment before they made their way further into the jet and took their seats at the controls. "I am so glad I learned how to fly this thing, who knew I'd ever need to make use of this skill?"

Frost stared at him dryly as Clint turned on the engine. "That was rhetorical, was it not?"

Clint paused to glower at her, but he didn't answer.

* * *

><p>During the time he'd been out of the prison-<em>room<em> damn it!-he was starting to once again feel the effects of hunger. Joey debated if that was a good thing or not since he _could_ feel now again. Back in that room it was like he was dead in a way, and if he closed his eyes, he'd be trapped in that world.

Briefly Joey thought of taking a nap just so he could get a feel again for being able to sleep and _not_ end up in that world, but if he fell asleep, it didn't stop the very real danger that _this_ place had if he let his guard down. So now, not even for novelty would Joey go to sleep. Not until he was in his own bed at least.

He pushed back the leaves of the forest until he came upon the coastline, the sounds of seagulls and waves hitting the rocks coming to his ears and letting him know that yes, this _was_ all real. Joey wanted nothing more than to run out and play in the water, but he kept back his childish urge to find some rock or log to rest his feet. He walked down the coastline until he came to such a log and sat down with a sigh, pulling his feet up and the aching lessened once the pressure was gone.

Joey laid down and stare up a the sky, just thankful that he wasn't staring up at a ceiling and he was about to close his eyes when his ears picked up the sound of an engine and it coming closer. He peered into the distance and spotted a speck in the distance, his heart racing as he dared ask himself if he was going to be rescued.

The answer came back 'yes.'

That was all Joey needed to leap to his feet again, ignoring the ache and waved his hands to get their attention, to make sure they didn't go past him. Joey's blood was pumping as adrenaline raced through his veins and excitement came over him. He was trying to get it out of his systems so he didn't accidently crash the jet when it got close enough.

Joey stopped his waving when he realized the seagulls had stopped making noise and the waves were still. He felt dread come over him and he didn't even need to turn around to know who was behind him. He swallowed before speaking, a nervous edge in his voice. "Hello…father." It still felt awkward to say that and he could just imagine arms being crossed in disapproval.

"Joseph, what are you doing out of your room?"


	31. Over The Edge

_Flasback/Dreams_

_'Thoughts'_

_"Speaking over the phone"_

"Speaking"

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 30: Over The Edge <strong>

Alexis stared at the red ugly welts on her face and grimaced. Though it could have been worse, the marring was _still_ a negative impact on the facial perfection she prided herself on, so she refused to let anyone see her while looking like _this_. She also wasn't thrilled that she'd have to cut her hair because of the singeing from Rourke.

If she knew having a crush on Joey would cause some weird girl to go psycho she'd let her have him, but she wasn't one to back down from something she wanted. No matter how detrimental. This just gave her another angle to use that Joey _owed_ her since it was because of _him_ that Rourke attacked her.

It was manipulative, but once she sated her curiosity of why she was even _attracted_ to someone of such low class she'd let him go. If she didn't break him down to nothing before that. But now with the revelation that the man who'd come to pick him up was a superhero, it was safe to speculate that Joey was in some way related to the man, and that meant he just became a somebody.

Even after her near death experience from Rourke, she still wasn't going to let go of Joey until she drained him dry. And only _then_ would she even think of letting him lead his own life.

Joey was a somebody now after all, and that meant he was _worthy_ of having someone like her grace his presence.

He couldn't say no after this; he'd probably be distraught over his relative's civilian identity being exposed, so he should have been easier to manipulate.

* * *

><p>Andrea kept the hood of her coat up, despite the cold had stopped affecting her a while back because of her heated skin. She held a disturbing determination in her eyes that would be better suited for a crazed lunatic than a sixteen year old girl. But then again, what she was planning on doing <em>was<em> something a crazed lunatic would do.

It was surprisingly easy to find out where Téa lived, just had to go on her facebook page and that pretty much told her what she needed to know. Andrea looked up at the two story building critically before knocking on the yellow and cheery colored door. She waited patiently before a woman answered who resembled the girl she was looking for. "Hello, may I see Téa?"

The woman, Mrs. Gardner, blinked. "And who might you be?"

"I'm," Andrea thought fast and glanced at the door, "Sonny. I'm one of your daughter's friends."

"Really? Téa never mentioned you before." Mrs. Gardner retorted.

Andrea put on her best 'I'm completely shy and unassuming expression.' It'd worked wonders for her so far with the adults. "I just became her friend recently, so she probably just forgot. I'm easily forgettable after all." She said as her voice took on a softer tone and her eyes widened.

Mrs. Gardner's own face took on an expression of sympathy. "Well, I always did think Téa needed some girls her own age to hang out with." She said before smiling and moved out of the way. "I'll show you to Téa's room."

Andrea nodded bashfully. "Thank you Mrs. Gardner." She said going inside the house and closing the door behind her. And when her face was briefly out of the older woman's notice, she smirked. The smirk was quickly wiped away though as she looked back and followed the woman up the stairs.

"Téa, one of your friends has come to see you." The woman called.

"Okay mom." A voice called back and gritting her teeth was all Andrea could do from growling.

When they reached the top, Mrs. Gardner looked back at the redhead. "Last door on the left, and don't say anything about her welts." She warned and the girl nodded before the woman made her way back down the stairs.

Andrea made her way down the hall with eerie calmness, a calmness that did not fit the thoughts going through her head. She turned the door knob and saw Téa on her bed and watching T.V. The redhead closed the door behind her as she walked in before the brunette bothered to look up, but it was so worth seeing the smile fade and the face pale. "Hello, Téa." She said sweetly.

The girl rolled out of bed and backed away to get as far away from Andrea as possible. "How did you find me?" she asked fearfully.

Andrea walked forward; her face set in a smile like she was merely _was_ visiting a friend. "Joey is mine Téa, and I'm not going to let anyone take him away from me. So that means you have to go." She explained, still keeping her sweet disposition.

Téa's face paled even further as she hit the dresser in front of the window. "But I don't _want_ Joey." She wailed.

"Even so," Andrea murmured, "you still need to be taken care of." She said before raising her hands.

Téa cringed back before she screamed at the top of her lungs, "MOM!" just as Andrea's hands wrapped around her throat and the searing burns felt so much worse than the one on her wrist. She tried pulling Andrea's hands away and scratching at her, but the girl would not let go. Andrea glared back as her skin flared red and steam seemed to be starting to emit from the redhead before she pulled the brunette back and then pushed her through the glass of the window with full force and the girl went sailing out.

Andrea peered over the glass to see Téa lying in a snow bank, not moving from her oddly contorted position and if the fall hadn't killed her immediately, she'd always be able to find her again. The redhead blinked as she heard a gasp from the doorway and glanced back to see Mrs. Gardner staring in horror and back away.

Well Andrea couldn't very well have a witness after all, that would set back her plans on taking out Alexis if she got caught.

The redhead rushed out the room after the woman, lunging at her just as she was about to make it to the stairs and slammed her head against the wall. Andrea let the woman slump before contemplating how to do this properly before deciding that it needed to look like and accident. A mother fearing for daughter after seeing her fall out the window and fell down the stairs in her hurry after banging her head against the wall.

Andrea grabbed the woman by her shirt and with a huff, sent the older woman tumbling down the stairs. The redhead made her own way down the stairs and unlike with Téa, she could see that Mrs. Gardner was no longer showing any signs of life. She thought she should feel bad about murdering someone in cold blood, but she would've called the police and she couldn't have that now could she?

Andrea wiped her hands of any blood and made her way out the door, a small smile on her face. "Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water," she sang quietly and her smile became downright psychotic, "Téa fell down and her mother went tumbling after." She giggled.

Now it was Alexis' turn to go tumbling down. And after that, it would be Hawkeye's; no one else was allowed to be with her Joey but her after all.

* * *

><p>Since Serenity's eyes were impaired for the moment, she had to rely on her other senses, but since the doctors allowed her to walk around as long as someone she knew was there to help her until she grew used to walking blind. No pun intended, literally or otherwise. Her impairment also let her appreciate the taste of the hot chocolate she was drinking and the sips beside her reminded her of who else was drinking with her.<p>

Blair had yet to visit her, but Johnny was turning out to be surprisingly good company for all his bravado.

"You didn't really have to come back, my friend Blair is supposed to be visiting me today." Serenity pointed out. She felt a hand ruffle her hair and she shook her head and flattened her hair.

She heard Johnny chuckle. "'Course I did, things have been getting a bit boring lately."

Serenity felt her lips twist into a wry smile. "And here you told me it was just to make my dad angry."

"That too."

"Serenity, there you are, I've been looking all over for you." A familiar voice said before the girl felt two arms wrap around her.

Serenity patted one of the arms and her smile turned more cordial. "Hey Blair, how long have you been looking?" she said cringing internally.

"Maybe 10 minutes or so; not very long I guess." Blair replied sheepishly and there was a pause and Serenity guessed the dark-haired girl noticed Johnny sitting beside her. "You're that Storm guy from the Fantastic Four, aren't you?"

"So you've heard of me then?" Johnny asked proudly.

"Eh, not really; just from other kids mostly." Blair said offhandedly and the auburn-haired girl could only assume that having a distant superhero father really didn't put the whole group in a favorably light for her.

There was a pause and Serenity imagined Johnny staring at Blair, seeing as the 'I don't know you' response had been the redhead's own to the question.

"Unbelievable, do you happen to live under a rock?" he asked.

Blair snorted. "No, I'm just not interested, it's no big deal."

"Hmm, well, you're just a kid so it probably isn't." Johnny retorted nonchalantly. "You're what, 12?"

Serenity could imagine Blair bristling and glaring at the superhero. "_No_," she said indignantly, "I'm _14_."

"Really? Well you look 12." Jonny replied coolly.

Serenity could hear Blair growling under her breath and didn't need to see to be able to tell that her friend's aura was starting to go red with anger. She set down her mug and held up her hand in placation. "Now, now, there's no need to fight."

"We're in a hospital, either of us gets hurt and we can just get a nurse." Blair said huffing.

Johnny scoffed. "Yeah, right, like you'd be able to get in single hit-ow! That doesn't count."

Blair sniffed haughtily. "I didn't even hit you that hard, just a slap to the head."

Serenity put her fingers on her temples and wondered if they were going to get kicked out if they kept this up.

* * *

><p>Joey wondered if he could pull off pretending that he was frozen before tossing that idea since he'd <em>already<em> spoken. He stared longingly at the jet that was so close and yet so far away, the fact it was now frozen in time being another twist of the knife. "How did you find out I was gone?"

"I came to see how you were holding up and whether you may have gone crazy or not," Joey secretly rolled his eyes since the man couldn't _see_ the action, "now answer _my_ question."

"I couldn't stay in there." Joey said softly. "While I'm really, _really_ grateful you took the time to save my life," he said to show that he was not _un_grateful and that there were other reasons for him 'acting out,' "I have to go home, I need to tell Clint what Widow did; he needs his closure. He's the closest thing I've ever had to a-" he stopped himself when he realized his reasoning had gone into a very tense line of thought, because calling Clint his dad meant he had to say out loud he thought of Laura as the only presence in his life that could count as a mother.

Hell, he'd never mentioned his almost siblings in front of Serenity because he thought she'd get mad at him for 'replacing' her with them.

"I just want to go home." Joey amended.

"This _is_ your home now. I'm not letting you go back there; Hawkeye and Frost will just have to have a little crash-"

Joey's eyes widened and his mouth ran off before he could stop himself. "NO!" he shouted and spun around, freezing upon realizing what he'd said and cringed into himself. "Um, uh, what I meant was…you can't do that." He winced because that didn't sound any better than his previous response.

In fact, it sounded worse, and that was _not_ the direction he'd wanted to go in.

"Be-because I still need Clint!" Joey hurriedly said. "And Miss Frost too, she is teaching me to control my powers and Clint's helped me so much already."

"What good a guardian can he be if he can't even protect you properly?" Loki questioned and Joey was rendered momentarily speechless.

"N-none of what happened to me was his fault though." Joey responded, but it couldn't keep him from thinking about what Barney said in his dream. But it didn't count because Clint said he _wouldn't_ let his brother kill him. "It was all under unforeseen circumstances."

"He told SHIELD about you when he should have kept his mouth shut." Loki retorted and Joey choked in disbelief.

"W-what!?" he said as his eyes widened before shaking his head. "No, no, Clint wouldn't do that, not on purpose." He said before pausing as he slowly looked back at the man. "What have you been doing?" Joey whispered when he truly realized that his second biological parent _knew_ about him living with Clint when his 'father' must have told him even before Joey knew about _him_. _'The entire reason I have to stay with the Avengers is because-'_

"I did what I had to."


	32. Knock For Six

**Chapter 31: Knock For Six**

"Hey, what's going on?" Yugi questioned as he walked outside the school after the classes had ended for the day and saw a group at the side at the bottom of the steps.

Tristan looked over at the shorter boy. "Some kid set up a booth and is using card tricks to take their money." He said sounding impressed.

Yugi blinked and looked over at the crowd again. "And he's not being kicked out?" he asked and Tristan shrugged.

"I think it's 'cause of the rich kids pride; they don't want to back down to what they think is a 'loser.'" Tristan then snickered. "That loser is smart enough to keep going."

"You're just saying that because he's not taking_ your_ money." Yugi said dryly.

Tristan smiled sheepishly. "Well, maybe, but he's still smart." He said and Yugi moved to the top of the stairs again to take a look at the boy taking the money.

He was at a table set up and he seemed to be playing the 'I'll guess what card you're holding' game. The impish grin on the face seemed to make him look younger than what Yugi assumed to be a teenager. He had short brown hair, which was a lighter shade at the top, making the darker color look like it was frosted on; and also making it hard to tell which hair color was the _natural_ color. He was wearing a red jacket and black jeans, not looking particularly bothered by the cold and Yugi guessed it had something to do with the adrenaline of winning money.

_'More like hustling._' Yugi thought and blinked at the tone of his inner voice. Lately his thoughts had been getting more and stranger. "Think he goes here? Though he looks like he should be in middle school still." Yugi mused.

Tristan grinned at him. "Yeah, you would know what being told that is like."

Yugi flushed red and grimaced. "I'm just saying."

"You cheated!" Someone yelled in outrage and Yugi and Tristan looked down at the place where the hustler had set up his table, only to see Chazz glaring at him and holding him at the collar.

"Uh oh, seems like Chazz isn't too fond of losing his money." Tristan pointed out smirking and shook his head. "Too bad for that kid."

Yugi looked aghast at his friend. "We can't just let Chazz beat him up!" he said moving down the steps and made his way into the crowd and struggled to get to the center of the confrontation. "Chazz, if you beat him up you'll get suspended!" he shouted.

The dark-haired teen paused briefly, as if thinking it over, and probably thinking back to how _Joey_ got suspended for fighting in school too. Then he snorted. "This kid doesn't go to our school." He said dismissively.

The two-tone haired teen grinned at Yugi, his childish features crinkling up. "Don't worry about me, man," he said and his grinned turned sly, "I can take care of myself."

"Can you take care of a black eye?" Chazz hissed and reared back his free fist.

That sly smile never left the other's face. "Can you take care of the fact your pants are fire?" The smell of burning clothing flew up in Yugi's face as he looked down and saw that the ankles of Chazz's pants had been lit on fire.

Chazz looked down and let out a yelp before pushing out of the crowd and sticking his foots into a snow bank, the only one laughing being the hustler.

"Guess he couldn't handle it." He said, his grin dimming to an amused smile before he packed up his cards and disassembled his table into a small board. "And I guess it's time for me to scat."

Yugi glanced with wide eyes at the teen, wondering how he managed to get to Chazz like that, before looking back over at Chazz as the rich guy started yelling and shaking his fist at the brunet boy. "You ever show your face again and I'll make you pay! No one makes a fool out of Chazz Princeton!"

This only caused the brunet the laugh again as he walked to the archway to the street. "I sincerely doubt that." He snickered and his smile became a grin once more as he glanced over at Chazz. "But good luck trying to find me Princy!"

The crowd watched the teen disappear into the street full of people and Yugi walked back over to Tristan, who was looking bemused. "I…guess he could take care of himself." Yugi said dazed before shaking his head. "Come one, let's go see if Téa wants some company."

Tristan chuckled. "Yeah, it's not like she's doing anything but sitting in her room all day." He rolled his eyes. "Because _of course_ getting a little burn is the worst thing that could've happened to her."

* * *

><p>Andrea walked down the sidewalk and managed not to look out of place as she stood behind the yellow police tape as she watched the two body bags being loaded into the morgue van. She really should have just left, but Alexis wasn't going anywhere. And even if she was, the redhead could just switch her target and go after Clint instead.<p>

She paused in her thoughts and really took the time to think about if she wanted to go and try to invade the _Avenger's_ Mansion; doing that would be suicide for an inexperienced mutant such as herself against seasoned superheroes. She needed to be smarter than that; maybe she could catch him at his _home?_

Andrea heard a gasp from her left and saw Yugi and Tristan had walked up, disbelief on their faces. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We came to see…what's going on?" Yugi questioned, shock lacing his voice.

Andrea managed to turn her features into something resembling remorse and did the same with her own voice. "I overheard it being said that Téa fell out of her window and her mother went down the stairs. It's horrible isn't it?"

"They're _both_ dead?" Tristan said in disbelief and his expression went distinctly green. "How…why…?"

"It's such a tragedy." Andrea whispered consolingly. "She was your friend."

Yugi felt like his heart was being ripped out, he couldn't breathe. First Joey ending up missing, then _this?_ How many of his friends had to suffer? "I…I…I need to go home." He said and pushed his way out of the crowd.

"Yugi!" Tristan called, but the shorter teen didn't stop and Tristan internally debated if he should go after him.

"I think I need to go home too." Andrea said before moving away from the crowd as well, her next target decidedly Alexis since she'd really need to plan out how to kill Clint. Joey would probably hate her for killing Clint, but he'd move on eventually; and that was only _if_ he found out it was him that killed the man. He didn't have to know, but how else would he realize just how far she was willing to go to be with him if she didn't tell him? Then he couldn't appreciate just how much he meant to her.

Yes, she was going to tell him once she found him; and if that didn't make him love her, she'd _make_ him.

* * *

><p>"Are you sure you don't want me to stay? Really," Blair glared at Johnny even if Serenity couldn't see it, "it's no problem."<p>

"No," Serenity smiled as she sat in the hospital bed as Johnny was flicking through the channels, "go on, I'm fine."

"Well, do you want me to go and get you some clothes?" Blair questioned.

Serenity looked down at her lap. "Uh, you see, when I said I was angry at my mom, I kinda-already had-moved out and into a…special school."

Blair blinked slowly, more so when she heard the words 'special school.' "Ren, are you a mutant?"

"Uh, yes." Serenity answered hesitantly.

"But…you and Joey aren't related, so how can you _both_-" Blair stopped herself as she realized what she said and Serenity's head shot up.

"You _know_ about his powers? How?" she asked.

"Uh, saw him and Hawkeye training." Blair replied.

"You sound really blasé about this." Serenity whispered.

"Well, my dad's Stark remember? I've gotta be used to strange stuff by now." Blair replied and only then did she remember that Johnny was still in the room.

"Stark? _Tony Stark_ is your _dad_?" he questioned in disbelief and squinted at her, as if trying to see any of him in her. "Didn't know he had a kid."

"No one does." Blair retorted and patted Serenity on the shoulder before walking out of the room and saw the candy striper from her previous visit and walked up to him, glancing up as he was taller than her by a lot. "'Scuse me, uh, do you happen to know when Serenity Wheeler will be allowed to leave; I wanna bring her some change of clothes for then."

Jesse furrowed his brow momentarily. "I'm not sure miss, but I'll be glad to inquire about it so your friend won't feel awkward. Do you happen to know her home number? The only information I have is for the after results and no one sayin' anythin'."

So no one was letting out the fact Dr. Doom's daughter was in for eye surgery? Blair could see how people wouldn't _want_ that information out because whether or not Serenity wasn't involved in any sort of criminal activity or what not, that wasn't something you _told_ if you wanted to stay in one piece. Blair had no idea how Serenity's father might treat a kid, but Blair knew how her own mother would treat this type of situation.

"You see, last I heard, their phone was having a bit of trouble, but Serenity knows my number so she can tell me when she's going to be released." Blair answered.

Jesse blinked once before smiling softly. "If you say so." He tipped his head. "Have a nice day miss."

"You too." Blair replied blushing lightly before turning on her heel quickly and making her way to the lobby. She walked out of the hospital and saw a black limo pulling up onto the curb in front of her. Panic rising, Blair started to back away as the window rolled down, but seeing Pepper did nothing to make Blair feel any less panicked. She didn't precisely _hate_ the woman, but she was just awkward around her ever since Pepper told her she had her dad's eyes.

_"Red and bloodshot?_" Blair had retorted and it had been all very downhill since Pepper had apparently _relayed_ that bit to her dad seeing as the check was cut down. It wasn't the money she had been angry about, but that she herself had not been helping in trying to be more amiable to her father, and after that she decided to not even bother with being nicey-nice. "How did you know I was here?"

"Claire said you were visiting a friend and I could catch you here." Pepper answered.

"Okay, _why_ are you here?" Blair asked crossing her arms.

"It's Tony; he wants you to come to the mansion." Pepper replied and Blair narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"Did he not get what I meant by 'I hate him'?" she asked. "And _because of that_, why would he even _want_ to see me after I did that?"

"Forgive and forget?" Pepper offered and Blair stared at her in a deadpanned way before shrugging. "Honestly, he just asked me to go and get you because he needed to do something about the damage control."

Blair gritted her teeth. "He couldn't even bother to come and get me himself?" she whispered angrily before reigning in her angry since this one time he actually _couldn't_ come and get her. This wasn't like those other times when he promised to do something with her only to get some sort of 'apology' gift when he didn't turn up. So just this once she wouldn't hate on him. "Okay, I'll go." She said and got into the limo.

There was no talking for the drive, and though Pepper looked like she _wanted_ to ask, she didn't. And Blair was grateful there _was_ only talking since she wanted to save it for asking what her dad wanted to see her about. The limo was driven around the back of the mansion, out of sight from the press she'd seen at the front and her dad was in the hangar, leaning on the doorway.

"Dad." Blair said getting out of the car; his face looked like it was sleep-deprived, but otherwise expressionless.

"Blair." Stark said and looked over at Pepper. "Thanks for getting her Pep'." He said before gesturing for Blair to follow him.

"Thanks." Blair said as well before sprinted to catch up with Stark. "So, uh, why am I here?"

"Well you see, Whitney was posing as my secretary at one point and things got really-"

"Ugh!" Blair said in disgust as she realized what he was alluding to. "No, not _that_ type of why I'm here, the _other_ reason."

"Do I need a reason to see you?" Stark retorted looking down at her and Blair didn't back down as she ripped him a new one.

"You didn't see me at all, so what makes now any better? Because if you're hoping I'll ask to spend time with…I gave up on that a long time ago." She hissed and Stark blinked first, but it was most likely because like Pepper had pointed out, she had his eyes.

"Look, I've already said I'm not Father of the Year, but I do have a reason for you to be here." Stark said. "And believe it or not you little smart-ass, I don't hate you like you believe."

"And you have the gall to say I have to watch my language?" Blair retorted.

"I'm the adult." Stark said bluntly.

"Oh, that's rich." Blair muttered, but even for a moment, this was almost civil. "But seriously, you can't just expect after all this time for me to accept you into my life like you belong in it."

Stark stopped and Blair looked up at him, only to see his oddly serious gaze staring down at her. "Blair, when I found out about you, that's exactly what I thought about you." He said grimly and Blair felt something constrict in her chest. "Now look, that doesn't meant I _hated_ you, it was mostly shock that Whitney managed to _hide you_ all that time with her sister, clearly showing she also didn't want me to have you; and really, I'm…not a good father."

"At least we can agree on something." Blair whispered because this was the first time they _did_ agree on anything.

"Yeah, weird and all that." Stark said, his blasé demeanour returning quickly. "But what are you gonna do?"

Blair stared at him, thoroughly mystified that he could change his mood so quickly. It felt like she got whiplash just thinking about it. She followed after Stark as he walked down the hall. "Well, that was another moment you just ruined right there," she said darkly, "we were finally starting to talk, and you do _that; _you always do that."

Stark seemed to turn hard of hearing as he didn't reply, at least until they reached the meeting room where the other Avengers were, but she did notice that Clint wasn't there and that someone knew was.

"Did you replace Clint?" Blair questioned.

"What? _No_." Stark replied and gestured to the girl. "Everyone, this is Blair Flannigan…my daughter."

Blair's head shot up to Stark, her expression one of disbelief and outrage.

* * *

><p>Rage started to cloud Joey's mind, but unlike with how he got angry at his 'father,' he managed to stop that haze from taking over like before. "You…" he choked up and gritted his teeth, the haze just staying at the edge of his vision. "You did what you had to do?" he repeated. "Do you know exactly what you felt you had to do <em>caused?<em>"

"I was under the impression Hawkeye was abusing you, your argument of what happened after the fact is moot." Loki retorted and Joey narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.

"Then let me ask you something: is Black Widow dead?" he questioned and tried to shrug it off like he was just being curious. "All I'm saying is that seeing as you killed my "father" I presume to be after learning what he did, and since Widow almost _killed me_ I just also have to assume you killed her too. Otherwise, why would you leave her alive after she tried to do that?" he pondered and his tone turned somewhat darker. "Unless of course there's still a reason for her to be alive." He paused momentarily. "And it also makes me wonder just what that reason is."

"If you're trying to trick, and _poorly_ I might add, me into saying something, _think_ about whom it is you're talking to." Loki shot back and Joey furrowed his brow before his eyes widened in realization.

"You let it slip though that you were the cause of me getting separated from Clint…" he trailed off and his expression twisted up into a grimace. "But you didn't say it because of what _I_ said did you? All of what you said just now, was it all to get me to this point? To see how much I could figure out and have _another_ reason to keep me here?" he sighed and slumped his shoulders. "You knew I would find the stairs. You _planned_ this."

"It seems I gave you too much credit when I said your not stupid if it's taken you _this_ long to figure that out." Loki said and Joey scowled and looked over at the unmoving waves and his anger faded to fatigue before looking at him.

"Are you still going to kill them?" he asked and the answer came to him before it was even spoken. It was a resounding 'yes' ringing in his head. "Even if I go back without a fight?" The answer didn't change and he sighed more deeply this time, staring into green eyes resignedly before he noticed he could _see his reflection_. It was worth a shot at a distraction, even if for a moment.

He had nothing else to work with.

The blonde's gaze turned defiant just before making the sand at the other's feet rise and hit him. Joey turned and ran into the forest like a bat out of hell, the sounds of animals and the far off jet returning.


	33. Liberation

**Chapter 32: Liberation**

Joey felt everything in him feeling like he was on fire as he ran further into the forest and away from the shore. He didn't know if he was being followed, but he'd heard the sounds around him and could only hope Clint and Frost were alright; as long as they were fine this was worth it. Granted, he didn't want to _think_ about what might happen. He could be just put back in the prison, or something worse could happen; he _really_ didn't want to think about the outcome.

Since knowing would only make things worse instead of any better.

Joey only stopped running when he tripped over a tree root and leaned against the tree, his chest feeling like it was on fire and he couldn't breathe, his legs aching from who knows-knows-how-long of running. He breathed in and out in heavy breaths, taking a moment to rest, though he did try to keep an ear out for any movement.

After waiting to catch his breath, the blond stood back up and looked around uneasily before running off, concentrating on the forest in front of him and focused also on trying to contact Frost. _'Miss Frost, can you hear me?'_

_'Joseph, where are you? Were you not supposed to meet us on the shore?' _Frost questioned.

Joey winced, his feet tripping up but he quickly righted himself. '_We've got a problem, Loki's here and I kind of attacked him seeing as he froze everything, including the plane you're on, and I needed everything to get working again.'_

Joey wasn't empathic, but even he was sure Frost was in disbelief for all her cool temperament. '_What were you think-'_

The blonde's eyes widened as the connection was blocked and he tried to focus on Frost again, but like with Clint, he couldn't find her mind. _'Oh crap._' He thought and tried to quicken his sprinting.

This really wasn't good; he was blocked from the only two people who would help him.

* * *

><p>"What?" Clint questioned as he saw Frost furrow her brow in concentration.<p>

"My connection with Joseph has been severed." She replied.

Clint would have stared if he wasn't too busy trying to keep them in the air. "_What?_" he hissed. "How did that happen? Is he hurt?"

"I can't be sure, as he didn't say much before we were disconnected." Frost said.

"Well what did he say?" Clint asked, irritation starting to rise.

"He said that Loki is here and froze everything," Frost relayed and pursed her lips thoughtfully, "and I think we can assume he is the one keeping Joseph from talking to me further."

"So we can't find him that way." Clint said grimly. "_Shit_." Frost looked at him disparagingly, but he simply ignored it. "I was hoping I wouldn't need to get the others involved."

"Why is that, so you won't have to tell them _why_ he was kidnapped this time or what the connection is?" Frost questioned and Clint sent her a quick scowl before looking back at the shoreline that was rapidly approaching.

"They certainly don't need to know this because what good will it do? Joey will be treated even more like he's some kind of threat and he doesn't need that." Clint retorted.

"Or is it because you won't be allowed to adopt him as you already know exactly how slim you're chances of getting him were be to begin with?" Frost shot back.

"This isn't really the time to be discussing this, least of all with you." Clint said tersely but not before glaring at her. "And I _do_ care about Joey, so your attempt to antagonize me doesn't mean a damn thing."

"But we have no way of finding him out here; he could literally be anywhere." Frost pointed out.

Clint gritted his teeth as he tried to think of something. "I'll keep the Quinjet in autopilot and you can keep watch while I go out and look for him."

"I'm quite capable of going with you to search for Joseph," Frost retorted, "I'm not some helpless woman who's afraid of getting her hands dirty."

"And with your past I'm sure there plenty dirty." Clint retorted and Frost smirked at him.

"And I could say the same about you." She said.

"Stay out of my head." Clint snapped before he landed the plane on the beach. "It's stupid to think we're not going to be spotted eventually, we probably already were, so screw protocols and we get that kid and then get out of _here_."

"Thank you for summarizing what we just came here to do, because clearly I've forgotten why I came with you." Frost deadpanned.

Clint flushed. "I'm just saying." He grumbled and grabbed his bow and arrows before the two of them made their way off the plane. He looked up at the jet for a moment and wondered whether he should leave the rail down, but they would need to get out of here quick.

"Second thoughts?" Frost questioned and Clint glared at her.

"Of course not, now let's go get my boy back." He said and they ventured into the forest, not knowing where to look, but just that they had to _look_.

* * *

><p>He didn't realize it before, but with no one to contact, Joey realized how alone he was. And he <em>hated<em> it. When he couldn't talk to Clint mentally, he felt like he'd been punched in the gut, but now that his connection with Frost was also being blocked, he wondered whether the next person he could try to contact would be blocked.

For the single reason of not wanting to lose connection with anyone else, he held back on trying. He might not be able to talk to _anyone_ now if that power was blocked off.

Joey leaned against a tree as he tried to catch his breath, his stomach feeling queasy from trying to use his Know-It-All ability to avoid anything that might harm him, and now he was reaching the sick marker. The blonde couldn't hear the jet anymore, but could still hear the sounds around him, so his hope rose and he asked himself whether or not Clint and Frost were looking for him now.

The answer was 'yes' and Joey couldn't even enjoy the moment as he fell to his knees and started to dry heave because there was no food in his stomach to come back up. His throat felt sore when in replacement of food, the stomach acid come up and splattered onto the ground. He breathed in and out heavily, his eyes pricking as they always did when the unpleasantness of throwing up happened.

Joey gripped his stomach and tried to remain in focus and not give into the after effects of wanting to heave again. He was worried because although Clint and Frost _were_ looking for him, they didn't know where or how long it would take, nor did _he_ know how it would take them. Grimacing and against every instinct telling him to stop, Joey asked himself which direction Frost and Clint were in.

'The way he came' was the answer he got and Joey doubled over onto his side and felt even more acid splat over the ground. He coughed and groaned with the fact he'd just been running _away_ from them, but some part of him was wary to go back that way. He gritted his teeth and got up onto his feet and made his way back in the direction he'd come from.

Joey's lips thinned as he tried to hold down the heaving he wanted to do and used one hand to wipe his away the sweat forming on his brow as he body felt hot and uncomfortable. The blonde kept his ears open for any sound that either Clint or Frost might be near. He knew he should be worried about Loki, and he was, he really was, but with how he was feeling right at that moment, he didn't think he could feel any worse.

Well, the thing that _could_ have made him feel worse was if this all blew up in their faces and he really didn't want to think about that.

Shaking his head, Joey felt green in the face and momentarily disoriented that he almost missed the sound of leaves and twigs breaking. His eyes widened and he hid behind the tree, half wanting to go further, but the more practical side of him didn't want to be in a situation where he couldn't fight. His ears strained to hear anything and the sounds got closer before he spotted two forms, one dressed in purple and the other in white.

Joey felt hope rise in his chest and he tried to call out, "Cl-" his eyes widened further and it felt like his voice got the mute button pushed. He tried to make _any_ sound, but nothing, not even a croak, came out. The blonde thought fast and picked up a stone by his foot and he threw it at one of the forms, hoping it hit and that he could apologize once he got his voice back.

"What the _hell?_" Clint's voice rang out angrily and Joey cringed, but reached up to the branch above him and broke it off to make them look over at him. He hid behind the tree in case they mistook him for something else and tried to attack. "Joey?"

Joey peered around the tree and saw Clint was looking over, his bow drawn warily in case it wasn't him, but he let it fall once he saw who it was. Joey wanted to speak, but his voice was still out of it and he nodded instead.

Though the relief that crossed Clint's face wasn't unusual, with everything that had happened, Joey was just really glad to see him. Joey moved around the tree and it wasn't soon before he felt two arms wrap around him. "You're okay, right?" Clint asked warily.

Joey saw Frost over Clint's shoulder and was sad to find he still couldn't contact her. He pulled back and shook his head before pointing at his throat and tried to speak to show that he couldn't.

Clint stared at him before he pulled him over to Frost by the arm. "Let's get out of here." He said decisively before they started running back through the forest. Joey grimaced and held his stomach tighter, but he didn't want to heave any spit or acid on Clint, so he kept his mouth solidly shut.

Though his legs still ached from all the walking and his stomach felt like it was cramping into knots, he still kept on running to keep up with Frost and Clint. He didn't want to stay here any longer and couldn't wait to get back…to the Avenger's Mansion. He still wasn't going to call it his home no matter _how_ long he had to stay there.

When Joey saw the Quinjet, he wished he could let out a sigh of relief and felt like collapsing in a seat to strap himself in. The thought of getting away was closer than ever. He didn't even care that he still couldn't speak, but he could still find other ways to convey what he wanted to tell Clint about Natasha.

Though, this still seemed too easy, and it left a bad feeling in Joey's gut that had nothing to do with the cramping. It just seemed _too easy_. Though that wasn't to say he'd _wanted_ anything to happen, because he really didn't and was gratefully relieved nothing had happened.

Joey felt the jet take off and looked up at Clint and Frost, both in the pilot seats and he could at least let himself relax. The only thing that should have mattered to him was that he was finally getting back to the city.

Blearily, Joey felt himself drift off to sleep.

* * *

><p>Once the shock wore off, Blair kicked her father in the shin before stomping out of the room. She couldn't <em>believe<em> what he had just done. She felt him grab her shoulder and she whirled around, a snarl on her lips. "_You don't get to do this!"_

"Do _what?_" Stark retorted. "I thought this was what you wanted in the first place?"

Blair let out a frustrated sound. "I wanted _acknowledgement_ I'll admit, but from _you_, not to be the thing that'll get you out of this and throw me to the wolves!"

Stark's eyes widened. "Wait, you think I'm going to tell the _press_ about you?"

Blair faulted at the fact he sounded almost _hurt_ by such an accusation. "I'm your daughter," she said slowly, "you never let anyone know that, and you decide to tell your friends about me just as your identity as Iron Man goes public, _what am I supposed to think you'd do?_"

"That does sound rather suspect." The new guy said thoughtfully.

"Thank you, new guy." Blair said not looking away from her father to watch his reactions.

"You're not helping, Steve." Stark replied and sighed. "Look Blair, I'd _never_ throw you to the press to save my own skin." He said and Blair narrowed her eyes. "Okay, I'd _never_ do something like that _now."_

Blair shook her head, still not believing what she was hearing. "I'm going home, try to stop me and where I'll kick you next will make sure you can't have _any more_ kids."


	34. Those Three Words

**Chapter 33: Those Three Words**

Blair walked down to the hangar to get a drive home as she didn't want to go through the jungle outside the front gates and she heard a roar of an engine before seeing the Quinjet land in the hangar and she stared at it in awe. She wandered over to it and wondered how it looked inside because she'd never got to see it this close before. The platform lowered and she peered in and saw Clint and a blonde woman walking down, the man seeing her first.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" he asked and Blair felt flustered as the man had never seen her before.

"I'm Serenity's friend, Blair Flannigan." The girl answered and peered around him. "Um, do you have Joey with you? I don't want to hold off with explain to Serenity why she won't be able to find her brother."

Clint looked somewhat relieved. "You can tell her he's fine…ish." He said reluctantly and moved to the side. "See for yourself. Don't wake him up though."

Blair raised a brow, but the thought of seeing Joey overtook her and as she wandered into the jet. "I won't, I promise." She said and continued into the contraption before she caught sight of him and blushed deeply.

Joey was lying against the wall as the straps around his shoulders kept him from sliding off his seat, his hair mussed up and though he looked uneasy, he was still incredibly attractive to her. Hell, even when she saw him bloodied and half-dead after rescuing her, Serenity and Mrs. Wheeler she still thought he was attractive.

Blair paused and thought there was something intensely creepy about how she was thinking, even for a hormonal teenager with a crush on her best friend's step-brother. Well, creepy or not, she never did _properly_ get to thank Joey for saving her, because she intended to keep what she did for Clint a secret, so all she had to do was wait for him to wake up.

Blair sat down beside Joey and her blushed reddened as she stared at his face and gently weaved her fingers through his hair, feeling the knots in it as she tugged them loose. She saw his face soften slightly as she began to pet his hair and found herself amazed by how soft it felt between her fingers despite how it looked; it really was as fluffy as it looked it seemed.

The girl took another look at Joey's face, but noticed with some unnerve that the blonde's face was too pale and his lips were tightly drawn together, even though the rest of his face had softened. She placed her fingers to his neck in worry and let out a soft sigh of relief to still feel a pulse under her fingers.

When she looked up again, she found herself staring into a pair of yellow eyes. Her brain froze on her and she couldn't do anything but stare at him, her mind coming up empty with how to make this seem less creepy than it was.

So she reeled back, her face red with embarrassment. "Um, s-sorry; you're kind of pale." She mumbled out. "I thought you were sick or something."

Joey raised a brow, but didn't speak, so he must not have been as creeped out as she thought he would be by her.

Feeling encouraged, Blair continued talking as she found her confidence once more. "Well, you know who I am, right? Serenity's friend?" she asked and Joey nodded. "Well, um, you see she doesn't know that you were kidnapped, so you want me to tell her or not?" she asked uncertainly and felt a little better when he shook his head. "Okay then." She said and trailed off into an awkward silence.

A silence neither of them could break, Blair realized as she looked at Joey more closely and narrowed her eyes, even as he reeled back as far as his seat would let him.

"Why haven't you said anything yet?"

Joey pointed to his throat and his mouth moved, but nothing came out. Blair felt foolish, the blond wasn't stunned or anything, he just couldn't _speak_.

"Oh, um, you hungry?" she asked flushing.

Joey nodded and unstrapped himself from the seat and got off the bench, but he winced as he stood and clutched his stomach. He mimicked like he was throwing up and clutched his throat.

Blair could hazard a guess what he was trying to get across. "So, you're sick?" she asked and Joey paused before nodding. "Okay then, want help some to get to your room?" Joey smiled at her wanly and nodded again. Blair blushed as she wrapped one arm around Joey's side and guided him off the Quinjet. She wanted to ask where he was, but kept that to herself for now until he could get his voice back.

Though how twisted Blair felt to finally be able to _be_ this close to him and not be freaking out-more than she already had anyway? "So where's your room located."

Joey looked up at the ceiling and Blair blushed. "Uh, I meant _where_ upstairs?" he just smiled at her and they kept on moving through the building. The girl was slightly confused by how Joey wasn't going in the direction of the staircase, but in the direction where Clint went. They found the other blond in the kitchen and drinking a large class of water and seemed to be trying to calm his nerves.

Joey moved out of Blair's grasp and reached out towards the man's shoulder, making him look at him and he began to mouth something. It looked like three words, but she couldn't really understand what he was trying to say. '_Natasha killed them.'_

Clint furrowed his brow at this in confusion once he figured out what Joey was trying to get across. The feeling hit him like a punch to the gut as he realized what was being relayed. He peered down at Blair as he grabbed a hold of Joey. "I can take it from here."

Blair looked between them before shrugging. "I have to get home anyway." She said and departed from the kitchen.

Clint's other hand came up to grip Joey's other shoulder. "Is this true?"

Joey nodded and started to mouth more out, hoping Clint would get it. _'She told me. She planned it.'_

The grip tightened and Joey grimaced but tried not to wince. "All this time…she was my _friend_. How could she do this? _Any_ of this?"

To get across what else he'd learned, Joey knew he that he would need paper instead of relying on trying to mouth the words carefully out. He made it look like he was trying to write something down and Clint nodded.

"Alright, but you're going to your room to rest. I don't really want you to be awake for the time being." He said and Joey stared at him sternly. "I'm not going to tell them _that_, we still need to _find_ Natasha." Joey nodded and slung one arm around the man's shoulder as they kept walking toward the stairs and toward his room.

The sound of barking rang through the room as Cheshire's tail started wagging as he saw Joey in the door and began to jump around his feet and onto the bed and onto Joey's stomach, though the blond winced.

"Come on you mutt, leave him alone." Clint said trying to push the dog off Joey, who growled at him and tried to bite him. "Well, it looks like your back to normal." He said sardonically and the dog growled at him once more before curling up at Joey's side.

Joey gave Clint a two-fingered salute and the older blond chuckled and Joey grabbed his bag to take out his notebook and wrote down all he knew since he didn't know when his voice was going to be coming back. He paused before using a new page to write down, '_Know anyone who knows how to fix me?'_

Clint's face twitched. "I'll see." He said before taking the other paper from Joey.

The younger blond was worried about this lack of reaction, but for once he was glad he couldn't see into someone's head. Joey thought he wouldn't like what he found, but at that moment he probably _really_ wouldn't like what he finds.

* * *

><p>After making his way down the steps and toward the meeting room, he caught sight of Frost and the redness seemed to only have gotten worse. Yup, it <em>was<em> going to bruise up bad later. She looked at him sharply, probably having heard his comments on her face.

"Ah, there you are, Clinton, I was just relaying how I captured Black Widow and that she's at Xavier's school." She said.

Clint was sure his brow was twitching in annoyance. "And when we're you going to bring this up exactly?"

"At the time we were retrieving Joseph, you didn't need any distractions at the moment." Frost replied.

"About that kid, it turns out his father bit the dust; you wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?" Stark asked raising a brow sardonically.

"He's dead?" Clint questioned feeling truly surprised. "Though I would have _loved_ to have ended that sorry excuse for a man _myself…_I had absolutely nothing to do with it. Hell, it was probably-" he stopped midsentence and Frost raised a brow sharply. Damn telepath, sneaking around in his head. "What was it exactly that made Natasha go after you."

Frost's lips curled derisively. "Black Widow was under the incorrect assumption that you held feelings for me."

Clint snorted. '_I _do_ have feelings for you, just not _nice_ feelings.'_

_'And I for you._' Frost thought back at him.

Janet looked between them both and clearly saw something they didn't. "I can see it."

Clint rolled his eyes. "Let's just go get Natasha before she slips away from the Professor's."

* * *

><p>Andrea glared down at the ground as she walked closer and closer to Alexis' home, trying with all her might to keep her anger in check. She gritted her teeth and glared up at the house, surprisingly sparse and not as grand as she would have thought. <em>'Huh, guess she must have rented out a place for her birthday then.'<em> She thought and walked up to the door, knocking on it and waited a few moments until it opened and there was Alexis herself, still showing the marks of Andrea's previous attack and her hair was cut to her shoulders.

Alexis' eyes widened and she tried to slam the door in her face, but Andrea was quicker than that and slammed herself against the door as well. Andrea kept pushing the door back until it gave out and she fell in, looking up as Alexis was running to a door in the hall. Andrea got up from the floor and made her way to the door, pushing it open and saw it led to basement.

Andrea grinned as she turned on the light and made her own way down the steps. Her eyes peered around the corner and scowled as she saw that the space was taken up by boxes and boxes. "So you want to do that do you?" she hissed and toppled boxes, each gaining scorch marks from letting her anger run loose.

She looked around the room and her glare deepened and kept pushing boxes, but for the most part she tried to keep her anger in check to unless it on Alexis. She narrowed her eyes and saw a blonde head peeking over one of the boxes and smirked as she reached for it, but when she pulled her hand back, all she got was a wig. She sneered and saw from the corner of her eyes Alexis make a break for the stairs.

Not letting the other girl get away so easily, Andrea lit the wig on fire and threw it at Alexis, the wig nailing the girl in the back and she screamed as she went down and rolled to put out the flame. Andrea made her way over to the girl and stomped her foot down onto the blonde's stomach and Alexis' eyes widened again as she gasped in pain.

"Why?" she asked weakly and tried to push Andrea's foot off her.

Andrea glared at her coldly, excitement coursing through her as she couldn't help but grin. "Why? Why not?" She asked smirking.

Alexis saw Andrea raise her hand and struggled even more to get the foot off of her. "No! No! You can't do this to me!" she cried.

"Yes I can." Andrea retorted and concentrated until her hands were glowing. "Now goodbye, _bitch."_ She hissed and her hand grabbed a hold of Alexis' face and neck.

The smell of foul burned flesh filled the air, but Andrea just smiled at her handy work and chuckled. "Two down, one to go."


	35. To Be At Odds

**Chapter 34: To Be At Odds**

As he got closer to the room where Frost had put Natasha, he felt everything come surging in and through his mind he thought of killing her then and there with what she'd done; he'd been _waiting_ for this moment to make the person responsible for the death of his family pay. If he was honest, he would stick an arrow right through her if he was alone, but if he still went through with it, well then it would 'pre-meditated' and he _would_ get in trouble for it as the team was big on 'no killing.'

_'Damn it._' He thought and noticed Frost looking at him strangely. _'And you just heard everything I just thought right now, didn't you?'_

"Are you sure it would be _wise_ to let Hawkeye near Black Widow in his...current state of mind?" Frost questioned aloud, and while his teammates probably thought of the fact Natasha was his friend and had betrayed him, his _real_ state was one of festering rage and revenge.

"I'm perfectly capable of handling Natasha, there's no reason for me not to be here." Clint replied and tried to sound as event-toned as possible, but that probably just made things seem worse.

"No, we don't need you screwing things up; go wait outside." Stark said dismissively.

Clint glared at Stark and crossed his arms. "Oh that's rich coming from _you_ of all people." He said scathingly, but all the other Avengers added that he _should_ go wait outside and he scowled before throwing a glare at the door where Natasha was stored behind and walked out of the lobby back to the Quinjet.

He knew that she was going to be transported through the jet to the-Clint paused and wondered _where_ Natasha was going to be put in prison. Though his method would have been more…_permanent._

* * *

><p>"Whoa, didn't see that coming," Johnny glanced over at Serenity as her jaw dropped when he put the TV on and found that they were doing a news coverage of the Avenger's identities, "you okay?"<p>

"This isn't good." Serenity said in a daze. "I just hope my brother isn't freaking out."

"Why would he?" Johnny asked.

"Er, Clint's the one taking care of him." Serenity replied nervously and Johnny blinked.

"Okay, it's official, you're family's _weird."_ He deadpanned.

Serenity crossed her arms. "Compared to some, my family's not _that_ weird."

"I _supposed_ you're right, throw in another family discovery and you'll be at that stage of _really_ weird." Johnny retorted and Serenity pouted down at her lap.

"Oh please, how many more can be possible?" She asked. "Well, I don't about Joey's mom, but I'd rather not think about that."

Johnny looked interestedly at her. "Really? So what would your guess be?"

"Can't she just be a totally normal person?" Serenity replied. "I have no idea what was going on so I can't say anything further than that. And with how things are now Joey's got bigger problems to deal with."

Johnny could agree with that. "You can say that again."

* * *

><p>Andrea couldn't have stayed to watch if someone had found Alexis; it was different before as Tristan and Yugi were too distraught to think of why she was there, but with the same MO and her in the same place? It would be highly suspicious, yet no one suspected her so she decided it was time to go home and rest. She could finish up her 'to do list' the next day.<p>

As she walked by the school, Andrea paused as she thought about how she wouldn't be able to get close to Joey in that Mansion, but if she got _him_ to come to _her…_ Maybe there was something in his school file she could use, like an email or contact number and no one was around at the time so she just had to be careful of the cameras.

Andrea concentrated on her hands and when she touched the glass it began to melt and when the whole was big enough she made her way inside and ducked under the camera in the hall and hurried to the main office, pulling her jacket over her hand and knocking the glass in so she could open the door from inside. She knocked in the glass of the principal's office and before she went over to the files she saw the video cameras and pushed the whole device to the floor, shattering as it hit the ground.

The redhead melted the lock on the cabinet and pulled it open with a jerk and she looked through the names until she came to 'Wheeler, Joseph' and looked for something to use. She grabbed a paper and pen to copy his home and emergency contact but stilled when she saw that he had a _sibling_.

Andrea glared down at the entry and hissed at the fact she had missed someone and had no knowledge of who or where this person lived; the only answer was to get it out of Joey. She didn't know if he was still in the hospital as she'd been busy lately and decided to try out the numbers first and see if she could get it out of Joey just who this sibling of his was and she could get the rest herself.

After leaving the school she made her way home and thought about how no one would suspect shy, little Andrea of doing these things. Well, if they ever _did_ figure it out, it would be too late by then when she already got what she wanted.

* * *

><p>When Joey woke up, his stomach felt fine and his features didn't feel uncomfortably scrunched up. He carefully slid off the bed and Cheshire just snorted in his sleep before rolling onto his other side and Joey grinned at the action before he walked out of the room, his mouth still having the acidic, bitter after taste he needed to wash it away with.<p>

He made his way down the stairs and to the kitchen to rummage through the fridge for a cup of Jell-O since it shouldn't have upset his stomach. He ate the whole cup and afterwards he grabbed a water bottle out of the fridge and made his way to the gym because he _really_ needed to make sure he still had good aim.

When Joey arrived, he had to manually find where Clint kept his spare sets of bows and arrows and when he found it, he set up his target and from his place at the other end of the room, Joey raised the bow and fired, the arrow hitting one of the outer rings than the black dot in the center.

Joey frowned and tilted his head to try and see what he did wrong and wondered if it was his balance, his eyesight, or the fact he just expected to pick up a bow again and still have good aim. He blinked and rolled his eyes before grabbing another arrow and firing, this one still hitting one of the outer rings, but since he was rusty he wouldn't get angry about it.

For this third shot, Joey straightened his posture and fired before he walked up to the target and saw that the arrow had hit closer to the center of the second to the black dot and smiled slightly before he walked back to grab his bottle from the ground and kept up the practice until the quiver was completely empty.

And when he was done, several attempts were close, and only one was spot on; Joey just looked at it for more room to improve once more. There was _always_ room to improve after all.

* * *

><p>When they took to the air, Clint knew that Natasha was on board somewhere, but no one would tell him and he tried to act like he didn't care, but it was always at the back of his mind, that urge for revenge. Although when he asked where Natasha was being put, he did get an answer; the Raft, where all the other powered up criminals went.<p>

He still had to wonder why Stark would put Sofen in the Vault and not the Raft or the Big House, but then again _he_ didn't design any of those ones.

On the inside he felt numb and cold; Frost had pretty much taken his revenge away from him and he was slightly blinded sided by this. Sure, the redhead was still breathing, but it was _Frost_ who had captured her; he was just shocked how blasé she had been about the whole thing and grudgingly he admitted to himself he would have been torn about what to do had she told him when they were getting Joey.

Clint stilled in his seat as he realized what he had just thought; he actually weighed getting Natasha over getting Joey when the boy's safety meant keeping him alive. He could justify it by thinking to himself that killing Black Widow _would_ have been keeping Joey alive, but he couldn't.

Not anymore after all that was happening and there were still other things he'd been neglecting.

He broke out of his thoughts when he saw Stark's shoes in front of him and he stared impassively up at the man. "What?" he asked nonchalantly.

"What's this all about anyway?" Stark asked narrowing his eyes, though he sounded like he was talking more to himself and Clint was just listening in. "You leave at a drop of a hat to get that kid back, but before that you got so evasive and edgy about that footage; what do you know?"

Acutely aware of how the others were listening too, Clint kept his face blank. "I watched _my_ son," and he could not emphasize that enough to keep them distracted, "get kidnapped. I reacted like any parent would and went to get him back. It's not like _you_ know what that's like."

The mood seemed to shift as Stark's face tightened. "Actually Clint, while you were away, I told the team about my daughter, her name is Blair."

Clint would have laughed at the thought once of Stark having any children, but he'd _seen_ Blair. "How could _you_ have spawned someone like that? She seemed so helpful when she was with Joey." He said quietly. "Didn't look like you at all."

Stark scowled. "Okay, fine, but she has my eyes. And if you're going by looks about how people are related, then…" he trailed off as he seemed to be trying to think of a comparison to make.

Janet turned in her seat from where she was flying the jet. "Joey looks much more like _Loki_ than he does _you_, Clint."

The words were so sudden and so startlingly accurate that Clint looked up in disbelief at Janet, but Stark nodded smugly. He ignored it though as his vision focused on the woman and he saw from the corner of his eye Frost had raised a brow. _"What?"_

Janet shrugged as if it was no big deal. "It's the way Joey smirks that I noticed it, and so did you actually…" she trailed off and suddenly looked back out in front of the window.

Clint glared up at Stark who also had a raised brow. "What is it now?" he snapped.

Stark's expression shifted again and he looked more authoritarian now. "You shouldn't have freaked out, so what…"

Clint felt himself stiffening in his seat as he realized that the secret about Joey's parentage was about to come out no matter what he tried. He heard rustling from another seat and he refused to move or acknowledge it.

"What does thou mean, Friend Stark?"

"That _he,"_ Stark said nodding down at Clint, "lied about knowing why Loki took Joey. And why don't you share with the class exactly what that reason was."

Clint was painfully aware of how they were waiting for his answer and he hoped Joey could forgive him for this…eventually. "Joey…is his son; I came to the conclusion after we went to confirm one of Joey's parents wasn't related to him, and...Joey confirmed it."

"Well now we know what Joey is since he couldn't have been a mutant." Stark said nonchalantly. "Though you did sell him out quickly."

Clint hissed and clenched his fists as she stood up. "Don't try to blame me, you just wouldn't quit. And besides, Joey was _scared_ about you all finding out because he thought you'd just see him as some kind of threat."

"Realistically speaking, Joey has now been compromised and has been staying with us for all this time; we need to inform Fury about this." Pym said logically.

Clint scowled at him, but even he knew that he was right. "I just want to keep my son safe." He said and glanced around meaningfully to show he was _not_ above doing whatever it took to make sure he kept _that_ promise.

"Up to and including attempted murder and lying," Stark retorted and paused, "maybe this could be your kid."

Clint narrowed his eyes and tightened his fists before he walked to the back of the cabin but didn't go any further less he raise any suspicions. Though this conveyed he wanted to be left alone right now because of what he'd just done. Joey was gonna _hate _him for this.

It disturbed him how the others could just go right ahead and continue talking as if he wasn't there, but then again they hadn't noticed his absent beforehand; the only one glancing back at him being the new guy.

It was only when the actual subject of the kidnapping came up did he get asked about it and he just shrugged in reply. "Joey looked like crap on the video and he was completely healed, so it should be obvious who did that. Turned him mute too and blocked his connection with Frost and me."

"Why go through all that just to let him escape?" Pym questioned perplexed.

Clint grimaced. "It did seen rather easy to get away; we were in Latverian airspace so long even I'm surprised that Doom didn't shoot us down."

"Well his daughter is Joey's step-sister." Stark retorted ominously. "And Joey _was_ being held there."

"Wait, the kid you were talking about what Serenity?" Clint asked abruptly and Frost stared at him like he was an idiot for just realizing this and Clint pinched the bridge of his brow but it was Frost who actually explained it.

"Doom must have guess from the moment he saw the jet that it was Clinton who had come for Joseph, who cares for him more than anyone else after all?"

Despite how severe the situation regarding Joey was turning out to be, Stark smirked at Clint. "Wow, you must be getting really predictable if supervillains are starting to notice you're attachment to Joey."

Predictable? Clint narrowed his eyes. "If Joey hates me because I just broke five years of trust, you're gonna pay Stark."

"Jan was the one who brought it up." Stark replied flippantly.

Janet winced. "Don't bring me into this! I didn't think Joey and Loki were _actually_ related. It was just supposed to be a joke."

Clint leaned back against the wall of the jet and glared down at the floor, thinking that this joke had uprooted everything he'd tried to keep under wraps.


End file.
